Niner Noise
FanSided

49ers decade in review: Ranking the 15 most infamous moments

By Peter Panacy

SEATTLE, WA - JANUARY 19: Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks tips the ball up in the air as outside linebacker Malcolm Smith #53 catches it to clinch the victory for the Seahawks against the San Francisco 49ers during the 2014 NFC Championship at CenturyLink Field on January 19, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JANUARY 19: Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks tips the ball up in the air as outside linebacker Malcolm Smith #53 catches it to clinch the victory for the Seahawks against the San Francisco 49ers during the 2014 NFC Championship at CenturyLink Field on January 19, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
15 of 16
Next
San Francisco 49ers Richard Sherman
Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks and outside linebacker Malcolm Smith #53 (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

No. 2: The 2014 NFC Championship Game

While this particular contest was certainly exciting for most non-49ers fans around the league, the 2014 NFC Championship game between the Niners and Seahawks was a bout most San Francisco fans would rather forget.

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

And for multiple reasons, too.

For starters, linebacker NaVorro Bowman suffered one of the worst injuries in franchise history, defending on a goal-line stand and tore both his ACL and MCL in his left knee. The injury would force Bowman to miss all of 2014, and some would argue he was never the same player again.

The 49ers were still in the game, though, so it took yet another infamous moment to give Niners fans even more heartache.

With San Francisco trailing late, Colin Kaepernick tried to hit Michael Crabtree on a fade route in the end zone, only to watch Richard Sherman tip the ball into the waiting arms of linebacker Malcolm Smith.

That prompted one of the most infamous postgame rants ever seen, as Sherman publicly ridiculed Crabtree to Fox Sports’ Erin Andrews.

All it did was pour more salt into this deep, deep 49ers wound. And it would be made even worse with Seattle going on to win the Super Bowl over the Denver Broncos.