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Santa Clara, Calif. • David Akers' mouth fell open and his eyes popped as he threw his arms into the air in both celebration and disbelief. Somehow, a field goal from 63 yards out had gone in — after bouncing off the crossbar and through the uprights.
Moments later, San Francisco's spot-on kicker was mobbed by teammates as the 49ers headed into halftime of last week's season-opening victory at Green Bay with a 16-7 lead.
Akers' facial expressions became nearly as big a deal in the highlight reels as the kick itself, which just so happened to tie an NFL record for longest ever.
Even the All-Pro Akers didn't think he had struck it just right this time. And that's saying something coming from the guy who set a single-season record with 44 field goals last year.