I remember when S.F. drafted him and he had a brief holdout. About two days into training camp, Bill Walsh said matter-of-factly "oh, he'll be one of the greatest players in 49ers history."

The guy played all four positions in the defensive backfield. I remember when the Niners in 1989 had the best team in NFL history relative to the rest of the league at the end of the season. Until someone knocks the 1972 Dolphins off the pedestal, their undefeated team has the claim as best. But that Niners team just killed everything in its path in the playoffs, including beating Denver 200-5 (OK, I think it was 55-10) in the Super Bowl.

The closest playoff game they had was beating the Rams 30-3 in the NFC championship. There weren't too many nervous moments but early in the game the Niners CB got beat (I think it was a double move; maybe he fell down) and Lott covered about half the field and blew the Rams' receiver the f*ck up for an incompletion. It was a totally clean hit. Lott always led with his chest and didn't lower his helmet.

You could just see the life force go out of the Rams. They needed big plays if they were going to win and this was a good chance and Lott just snuffed it out.

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"Somewhere in Middle America"