The San Franscico 49ers (also written as the San Franscico Forty-Niners) were founded as charter members of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946 . The 49ers joined the National Football League (NFL) as part of the AAFC-NFL merger after the 1949 season. In doing so, the 49ers became the 10th franchise in the NFL. The other two AAFC teams to join the NFL at the time were the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts.
The San Franscico 49ers got their nickname from the prospectors who came to California in 1949 during the Gold Rush, thus naming them the “49ers.”
The 1950s brought some success to the franchise with the “Million Dollar Backfield.” Consisting of four future Hall of Famers, quarterback Y.A. Tittle, and running backs John Henry Johnson, Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry became a potent offense.
Development of the Shotgun Formation
An aging Y.A. Tittle still quarterbacked the team in the early 1960s. Head coach Red Hickey starting implementing a shotgun offense to accommodate Tittle’s declining mobility. The shotgun formation is a scheme used mainly for passing plays. Instead of the quarterback receiving the snap from center at the line of scrimmage, Tittle would stand five to seven yards back to receive the ball.
Led by quarterback John Brodie, the 49ers reached the playoffs three consecutive years starting in 1970, to only see losses in the divisional rounds each year. Key players from those teams included wide receiver Gene Washington and linebacker Dave Wilcox.
The Morabito family, original owners since 1946, sold the franchise in 1977 to Edward DeBartolo Sr. in 1977 for $17 million. DeBartolo hired Bill Walsh as head coach in 1979. Walsh had served as quarterback coach under Paul Brown while with the Cincinnati Bengals. Under Brown, Walsh utilized quarterback Ken Anderson’s skills, as the “West Coast offense” was developed. Walshs’ offense emphasized short, horizontal passing routes as an extension of the running game.
Super Bowl victors
Walsh drafted quarterback Joe Montana in his first draft in 1979. Regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, Montana would lead the franchise to four Super Bowl victories. He was the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times, and over the four games, he had a spotless 11-touchdown to zero-interception performance.
San Franscico won its first Super Bowl in 1981 as the team overhauled its defense. Rookies in the secondary included Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson as they helped the team to its Super Bowl XVI victory.
The 1984 team finished the season 15-1 in winning their second Super Bowl. The 15 wins set a record for most regular-season wins at the time. Since then, the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 2011 Green Bay Packers matched it. The 2007 New England Patriots broke the record with 18 regular season wins.
New Home for the San Franscico 49ers
The 49ers played their home games at Kezar Stadium from 1946-1970. They then played at Candlestick Park from 1971 – 2013 before moving into Lev’s Stadium in 2014 where they currently play.
In the 1985 draft, the 49ers traded up to select wide receiver Jerry Rice. Over his twenty-year career, Rice would go on and become the statistical leader in almost every wide receiver metric: reception, touchdowns, receiving yards, scrimmage yards, and total touchdowns. He earned selection to the Pro Bowl 13 times over his career.
Joe Montana led the team to Super Bowls victories in 1989 and 1990. THey defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 and the Denver Broncos 55-10. Montana’s understudy, Steve Young, would lead the franchise five years later to their fifth Super Bowl victory, a 49-26 win over the San Diego Chargers in XLVII.
The San Franscico 49ers currently play in the National Football Conference (NFC) West Division along with the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers reached Super Bowl 47 in 2013 as well as Super Bowl 54 in 2020 but lost both games. The 2013 game made history as Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh defeated a 49er team coached by his brother Jim Harbaugh. The brother-to-brother coaching confrontation in a Super Bowl remains the only time brothers coaching against each other has occurred.
Barry Schustermann
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