Nick Mullens got several hundred congratulatory text messages, a phone call from Brett Favre and his Twitter account verified.
Delivering the most productive game by a quarterback in his NFL debut since the merger leads to many accolades.
Mullens threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns and the San Francisco 49ers thoroughly dominated the Battle of the Bay, beating the Oakland Raiders 34-3 on Thursday night.
The former undrafted free agent out of Favre's alma mater Southern Mississippi finished 16-for-22 in place of the injured C.J. Beathard and had a 151.9 passer rating, the highest for a quarterback with at least 15 attempts in an NFL debut since the 1970 merger.
"I think I'm here for a reason. This is my opportunity to prove that I can play," Mullens said.
"Today's thing was just attack your job and worry about what matters. What mattered most tonight was the team and how we played."
The Niners (2-7) couldn't have played much better in stopping a six-game losing streak and winning for just the second time in two years without Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback.
Mullens threw TD passes to Pierre Garcon and Kendrick Bourne on the opening two drives and connected on a 71-yard one-handed catch-and-run play to George Kittle to set up a third touchdown pass to Kittle.
