The 49ers were getting ready to play their third preseason game of the 2007 season and weren't sure whether to insert their first-round draft pick, linebacker Patrick Willis, into the starting lineup.
Veteran Brandon Moore had started the first two contests that summer. Head coach Mike Nolan was wavering.
"And Mike's like, 'Should I start him?'" Scot McCloughan, then the team's personnel chief, recalled on Monday. "And I'm like, 'Hell yeah.' He said, 'Well, I don't think he's ready.' And I said, 'We'll find out.'"
Willis started and he indeed was ready. He not only looked comfortable next to veteran Derek Smith with the first-string defense, he led all tacklers in that game with seven stops.