January 17, 1999 I witnessed one of my biggest heartbreaks as a Vikings fan. I will never forget sitting in shock after watching the Atlanta Falcons defeat my team in overtime sending the Falcons to the Super Bowl.
The Vikings came in as the number one seed and Atlanta two. The Vikings had not lost at home all year until that day.
The snap, the hold and the kick by Falcons’ Morten Andersen go through the uprights and then to watch the Falcons players running around the Metrodome hugging each other was gut wrenching. I will never forget watching Atlanta Coach Dan Reeves do the “Dirty Bird” on the stage down on the field.
It was the worst feeling in the world thinking what could have been. I had my Super Bowl trip lined up.
Oh well that was then and this is now as Sunday January 20th the Atlanta Falcons number one seed host the number two seed San Francisco 49ers.
The Falcons jump out to a 17-0 lead at home looking like they were going to cruise to an easy win. The 24-14 halftime lead still looking good but the trouble is there are four quarters in a game.
The Vikings in the 1999 NFC Championship game took a lead 20-7 looking like the trip to the Super Bowl was looking more realistic.
The 49ers on Sunday came back from the biggest deficit in a NFC Championship game since Atlanta came back against Minnesota back in 1999.
It is crazy the similarity with these 2 games with both years the 1 and 2’s facing each other. The one seed having a comfortable lead only to watch the visiting number two seed come in and steal a trip to the Super Bowl.
As a Vikings fan living through that year is nice to see the team that stunned the Vikes in 1999 now know how it feels.
I myself am in shock watching Atlanta so dominating to start fall to the high flying 49ers offense. I am truly glad Randy Moss along with the other 52 49ers players will get a shot at the ring.
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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