Nothing Fishy About Hanson’s Feat

The underlying significance of this did not escape Jason Hanson.

He had booted through what proved to be the game-winning field goal.

It gave the downtrodden Detroit Lions their first win, and the heavily favored, defending world champion San Francisco 49ers their first loss.

All of which was played out in front of a typical Monday Night Football audience of 60 million viewers.

Hanson knew what this could mean.

Free seafood.

No, Hanson said, he did not get a game ball for kicking four field goals in the Lions’ dramatic 27-24 win Monday night.

“I got a gift certificate to a great restaurant, which is just as good,” the Washington State and Mead High grad said Tuesday afternoon. “You’d think that after a big game like that, beating the 49ers on Monday Night Football, I’d be thinking about something else, but all I could think was that, man, I hope I get that gift certificate to Charlie’s Crab (restaurant).

“They pay me a pro football salary and I should be able to afford it anyway, but I was pretty worked up about getting that gift certificate.”

Hanson probably would never have been honored as Charlie’s Crab player of the game on the strength of his first three field goals - from 30, 38 and 18 yards.

The clincher came when quarterback Scott Mitchell led the Lions to the 49ers 15 in the game’s frantic final 2 minutes.

San Francisco tackle Bryant Young had to be helped off the field because of an injury (“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that one,” a skeptical Hanson said), which led to some confusion as officials gave the Lions 40 seconds instead of the normal 25 to get the play off.

This should have given the Lions more time to run off the clock, leaving the Niners with less opportunity to come back and score.

Hanson, instead, kicked the ball at his normal pace, leaving perhaps an extra 10 seconds or so for San Francisco to drive.

“Everybody was screaming at me, ‘40 seconds, take your time,’ ” Hanson said of the confusion while he was concentrating on the crucial kick. “I’m not really paying too much attention or wanting to have much of a conversation at that point, so I kind of ignored them because I thought they were just telling me to take my time and relax and put it through.”

Because of the timing problems, Hanson stepped toward the ball too early and had to adjust in mid-stroke, causing the 32-yarder to hook just inside the left upright “by about an inch,” he said.

Hanson might be the Nureyev of placekickers, with his smooth, graceful swoop at the ball and almost dance-like follow through.

But as the officials’ arms shot skyward, Hanson gazed up at the Silverdome roof with a look of pained relief.

“It wasn’t relief in the sense that it went in when I didn’t think it would, it was more disappointment that it barely squeaked in,” Hanson said. “I wanted to put it right down the middle because I was kicking well, so when I saw it barely go in, I thought, great, I just gave all the critics the chance to say that Hanson barely squeezed it in and the Lions were lucky to win.”

Yes, there are the critics. Criticism has taken over from Fords and Chevys as Detroit’s leading product in recent weeks as coach Wayne Fontes and the winless Lions have been relentlessly targeted.

The win and the vindication might have all swirled down the drain had the Niners driven back for a score in the final 1:12.

Quarterback Steve Young, perhaps predictably, led them down the field to the Lions’ 22, where Hanson’s San Francisco counterpart Doug Brien clanged a 40-yarder off the right upright.

“I really felt bad for him; I was excited we won and I didn’t want to see it go in, but at the same time, as a kicker, I know what that’s like,” Hanson said.

He didn’t know what to say to Brien after the game.

“I ran over to him, but what do I say? ‘I’m sorry you missed, but I made mine, ha-ha.’ “

No, that would not be like Hanson, who has carved out a reputation as one of the NFL’s best young kickers.

As a rookie in 1992, he was named Pro Football Weekly’s offensive rookie of the year. In ‘93, he had one of the best years of any kicker, making 34 field goals (one off the NFL record) and scoring an NFC-high 130 points. Last year, he dipped a bit to 18 for 27, but still made four game-winning kicks.

This season had been trying, with two kicks blocked in the preseason and another blocked by Minnesota.

“We haven’t played that well, but we’ve been close in some tough games on the road,” Hanson said. “The bottom line in this league, though, is that you have to win games, and we know that.”

But the 4-for-4 performance and the win over the Super Bowl champs should be enough to silence the critics for awhile.

And it could be the kind of effort that leads to more wins, more success - and more free seafood.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo