Lions’ St. Brown shares unfortunate NFC title game proclamation

Lions’ St. Brown shares unfortunate NFC title game proclamation originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Amon-Ra St. Brown clearly remembers when his Detroit Lions had the 49ers on the ropes during last season’s NFC Championship Game.

San Francisco, of course, entered its Levi’s Stadium locker room trailing Detroit 24-7 at halftime. But the 49ers would flip the script over the last 30 minutes to earn a 34-31 win and trip to Super Bowl LVIII.

The Lions wide receiver was convinced Detroit would be making its first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. St. Brown appeared on “Cleats and Convos with Deebo Samuel” on Tuesday and told the 49ers wideout what he animatedly said to his Lions teammates during the title game intermission.

“I go in the locker room like, ‘Bro, we’re about to go to the Super Bowl,’ ” St. Brown told Samuel and co-host Liv Moods. “ ‘We just need two more good quarters and we got this.’ And after I said that, everything went downhill.”

The Lions were right there. Even Eminem, the legendary Detroit rapper, was in attendance and told 49ers icon Steve Young about how he could “taste” the win.

San Francisco, however, would go on a 27-7 run to win. The 49ers ultimately “tasted” the victory, but they had every ounce of luck — including a lucky ladybug on Brandon Aiyuk’s cleat — on their side.

St. Brown couldn’t believe what he saw. Not many could on that Jan. 28 night.

“We had a pretty good first drive coming out of the second half,” St. Brown recalled. “But [wide receiver Brandon] Aiyuk had the crazy catch. I think ever since that catch happened, I just feel like energy shifted completely toward you guys and never came back to us.”

Aiyuk’s 51-yard reception via quarterback Brock Purdy was a game-changer. The play brought San Francisco within yards of the end zone, and Aiyuk and Purdy would connect again for six points right after.

St. Brown and the Lions understandably were devastated after the loss. A trip to the franchise’s first Super Bowl was in their grasp, and they let it slip away.

“That was probably one of the worst games I had ever been a part of,” St. Brown declared. “It’s different when you’re up by so much and you end up losing, compared to tight the whole game. We had the game, we just sold it.”

That rendition of 49ers-Lions became an instant classic.

Perhaps the rematch on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” in Week 17 of the 2024 NFL season will have the same fireworks.

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