Nathan Vasher took the ball at the R.
Not at the 1-yard line. Not at the goal line.
He took it at the R in the word BEARS, the one painted in orange capital letters in Soldier Field’s south end zone.
Not at the bottom of the R.
He took it at the top of the R, on the side closest to the Bears’ fans in the stands, 108 yards from the San Francisco 49ers’ end zone.
And, with 0:03 on the clock, he took off.
Vasher ran forward, ran left, ran right, ran out a tunnel onto Lake Shore Drive, cut back past McCormick Place onto a Stevenson Expressway ramp, took the Dan Ryan exit to I-94, got off at U.S. Cellular Field, followed the White Sox parade route back to the Chicago River, hung a U-turn up by Michigan Avenue and took a shortcut through Grant Park to elude the 49ers for a 108-yard touchdown.
Or something like that.
I’m still not sure exactly what I saw Sunday on the last play of the first half of the Bears-49ers game.
A 108-yard … what?
Kick return? Well, sort of. Punt return? No, it definitely wasn’t one of those. The Bears barely can catch a punt without Krazy Glue on their fingertips, much less run one back 108 yards.
A field-goal return? What the heck is a field-goal return?
All I do know is, this one is going to go down in Chicago football lore as Vasher’s Dash.
In a play sure to be nominated for two NFL awards–Special Teams Play of the Week and Especially Bad Play Call of the Week–the 49ers tried to kick a 52-yard field goal on a day so windy, Clark Kent couldn’t have hit one from 51.
Vasher, a 23-year-old in his NFL sophomore year, broke very late from the Bears’ huddle to retreat to the end zone, just in case Joe Nedney’s kick came up short.
He said he wasn’t even aware of a rule until then that a kick can’t be downed in the end zone with 0:00 on the clock.
Brandon McGowan, a 22-year-old rookie, dropped back in the nick of time to block for Vasher.
I found McGowan by himself by his locker after the game. It was his block that sprung Vasher on his 108-yard adventure, but I was curious … was it true that the Bears had practiced this play and that everybody on the field knew precisely where to be and what to do?
“Truthfully?” McGowan asked me back, smiling. “The truth is, Nate told me to rush.”
As in rush the kicker–you know, to try to block the kick?
“Yeah,” the rookie defensive back from Maine said. “But when I saw him go back to the end zone, I knew I’d better get myself back there to block for him and fast.”
Here is a partial account of Vasher’s dash, taken from a shorthand version I scribbled in my notebook:
Vasher catches ball over shoulder, deep in end zone. Runs 8 yards just to get out.
0:00 on clock. McGowan throws huge block. Vasher nearly goes down, plants a hand on ground to regain balance.
Cuts to his right. Open field in front of him. Urlacher his escort. Tillman lays somebody out. Briggs blasts somebody … No. 4?
Vasher bushed. Makes it to end zone. McGowan runs in with him. Vasher drops from exhaustion. Idonije, Azumah, Harris, Green help him up. Longest runback in NFL ever?
“Still tired, guys,” Vasher joked in an interview room a good 15 minutes after the game.
For the record:
Yes, his 108-yarder was indeed the NFL runback of all time–the longest touchdown play of any kind, any game, any field, any year, run, punt, pass or kick.
It took an hour or so to confirm this, but Vasher found out in the fourth quarter, along with the rest of Soldier Field’s crowd, that the record belonged to him and was high-fived by teammates near the bench.
After all those zigs and zags, Vasher wasn’t sure how much yardage he covered, except to say it was “way more than 108.”
Brian Urlacher rode shotgun most of the way and Vasher thanked him for making “about three blocks for me,” but Urlacher didn’t think he blocked anybody.
In fact, Urlacher said some 49er hit him in a way that was none too fair, but “they didn’t call it, since I’m not a quarterback.”
Lance Briggs also accompanied Vasher and put a hellacious lick on poor Andy Lee, the 183-pound holder for the 49ers’ field-goal try.
Charles Tillman was part of the posse as well. How was his view of Vasher’s dash?
“I was just part of it. He made all the moves,” Tillman said. “I’ve never seen anything so amazing in my life. Best thing I have ever seen in this business. I mean it.”
Thing … that’s the word for it.
A veteran of 10 seasons as a pro, Muhsin Muhammad has been around some. But in trying to describe this one, the Bears’ well-spoken wide receiver was almost at a loss for words.
“Nathan Vasher’s record-setting, um, I don’t know what you’d call it. Punt return? Field-goal return?” Muhammad said.
“Whatever it was, it’s just one example of how this team has been resilient throughout the year.”
Whatever it was, I asked McGowan if he planned to watch Vasher’s dash replayed on TV.
“All night long,” he said. “I want to see for myself what happened out there.”
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Return engagement with history
As time ran down on the first half of Sunday’s game between the Bears and 49ers, San Francisco lined up for a field goal that would give it a 6-0 lead. Andy Lee was the holder on Joe Nedney’s 52-yard attempt that set in motion the longest play in NFL history.
Here’s what happened next . . .
1. The kick off the left-footed Nedney is short, hooking to the back of the end zone as it falls.
2. Nathan Vasher catches the ball 2 yards from the back of the end zone and appears to consider taking a knee and ending the half. Instead, he brings it out.
3. Just shy of the Bears’ 15-yard line, Vasher gets a nice block from Brandon McGowan. Vasher, though, breaks loose with a spin move–including balancing himself with his left hand as he cradles the ball in his right–leaving six 49ers who are now flowing in the wrong direction.
4. Vasher has a caravan of blockers as he makes his way toward midfield, including Charles Tillman two steps ahead, Israel Idonije to his left and Brian Urlacher two steps behind.
5. Vasher continues and is helped when Tillman takes out Nedney.
6. Chris Harris lands a block as Vasher is closing in on a touchdown. Few 49ers remain with a shot at stopping Vasher.
7. Lance Briggs takes out Lee, the holder. But Urlacher nearly gets tangled with Vasher, who is starting to slow.
8. The final block: Urlacher lands on San Francisco’s Steve Bush, clearing the way for Vasher.
9. Finally, Vasher’s run to history is complete. He collapses in the end zone, joined by McGowan (who made the first block), Hunter Hillenmeyer and Tillman.
Bears 7, 49ers 3
Note: Vasher’s route is approximate based on reviews of TV replays.
Chicago Tribune.
– See microfilm for complete graphic.
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mikedowney@tribune.com
