Jimmy Garoppolo walked out of the end zone for a safety, finally lifting the curse ESPN's Dan Orlovsky has held for years

• Jimmy Garoppolo ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety against the Denver Broncos.
• After the play, ESPN's Dan Orlovsky celebrated on Twitter.

The Sunday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos was an absolute mess.

The highlight of the lowlights came from 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who accidentally ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

Credit to the Broncos punt coverage team for pinning San Francisco, as well as the pass rush for getting to Garoppolo, but this is not a mistake that happens often in the NFL.

While it doesn't happen often, it has happened before.

Back in 2008, then Detroit Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky had a strikingly similar play, scurrying out of the end zone while being pursued by Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.

Given Orlovsky was the last player to suffer such a snafu, his play has lived on in infamy. Thus, no one was happier to see Garoppolo suffer a similar fate.

Hammering the point home was NBC play-by-play man Mike Tirico, who had immediately referenced Orlovsky's mistake after Garoppolo repeated it.

After the play, Tirico apologized to Orlovsky over the air.

"I kind of want to say I'm sorry to Dan Orlovsky, but that's the first name that pops into my mind," Tirico said. "For those that don't remember the play, in 2008, Orlovsky with the Lions ran out the back of the end zone. A lot of us would if Jared Allen was bearing down on you, as the great defensive end from the Vikings was doing at that time.

"One of the few times we've seen that play happen in a game, until we saw it here tonight. Dan has gone on to have a very good career in TV. I love watching him as he does his coverage on ESPN. So Dan, first came to mind, now you've got company at least."

Indeed, Orlovsky does seem happy to finally have some company.

In the end, the safety came back to bite the 49ers, who lost what ended as an absolutely atrocious game, 11-10.