Before Cameron Dicker’s successful 57-yarderthe last time a team attempted a fair catch kick was the Panthers in 2019. Joey Slye had a 60-yard attempt during a game in London.

But before that, 49ers kicker Phil Dawson attempted a score from 71 yards in a game against then-St. Louis. Louis Rams in 2013.

San Francisco’s head coach this season?

Jim Harbaugh, of course – a man who talked about his love of the game after Thursday night’s 34-27 win over Denver.

“That’s my favorite rule in football,” Harbaugh said. “I tried to get one of those like I do every game.”

Harbaugh may have been exaggerating a bit. But it’s a situation he’s thought about a lot and prepared his team for.

“It’s the first one we’ve done,” Harbaugh said. “We tried the 49ers, I think it was like a 70-yarder. Mr. Dawson. I wanted it so badly that I tried a 71-yarder. But it’s my favorite rule. And Cam Dicker did it. And I thought that was huge momentum – I brought the momentum back by halftime.”

With that in mind, Harbaugh was asked if, when he saw the penalty after the fair catch, he thought, “This is my moment.”

“Pretty much,” Harbaugh said with a laugh. “Pretty much exactly how it went. And I was really happy too because coach (Ryan) Ficken had worked through it this week. He doesn’t go through it every week, but this week they went through it. So we took some time off and just tackled things completely.

“But yeah, I tried to do the math in my head – where is that flag? And it should be on their side of 50. So this is our chance, this is our moment. And the other option is an untimed Hail Mary (on). But we just have Cameron Dicker. So that’s our guy.”

A reporter began asking about another topic, but Harbaugh wasn’t quite finished.

“The good thing about the free kick is that you don’t have to go back 8 yards after the snap,” he said. “You get it directly on site. So it’s a great job.”

Of course, it was also the first converted attempt since 1976. Especially since it resulted in a win, it was a moment that Harbaugh won’t soon forget.

“It was cool,” Harbaugh said. “That was really cool.”