You’d think with all the static Donovan McNabb heard for not knowing the overtime rules, the message would have gotten out.
But after yesterday’s 24-24 tie between the Rams and 49ers, there were still folks unsure why it ended.
For 49ers safety Dashon Goldson, it took players from both sides walking onto the field to signal that the game actually ended.
“I’ve never heard of a tie in football,” Goldson said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “Where’s everybody going? Did somebody quit? Forfeit?”
It only felt that way.
The tie was the appropriate ending for a game in which both sides missed overtime field goals, and mistakes undid chances to win in regulation and the extra session.
“I’ve been doing this a while and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a game like this,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “We had a number of chances to put this one away and unfortunately we didn’t.
“We just didn’t win it. But we didn’t lose it, either.”
“It feels like we didn’t even play, mentally not physically,” 49ers tight end Vernon Davis said.
That uncertainty was echoed by his coach, who seemed at a loss for words.
“I don’t know exactly how it feels, yet,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “I don’t know quite how to feel right how. I’ve asked several people, some of our players. And I think they feel like I do. Don’t know quite how to feel right now.
“But the way I feel is that it was a good football game. A hard-fought football game, and we came out even.”
And even after all these years, ties still surprise.
UPDATE 9:22 a.m. ET: It wasn’t just the 49ers who didn’t know the rule. Rams wide receiver told Sports Illustrated’s Peter King he didn’t realize it was over, saying: “I thought we were going to keep playing.”