San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers have one of the richest history in all of the National Football League. The organization has been playing professional Football since the 1946 season. The 49ers have five Super Bowl Championships, with a 13-year dominance from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. Let’s take a look at some of the most important San Francisco 49ers’ history over the last 75+ years.

The 49ers started their franchise at Kezar Stadium. That was their home all the way until the 1970 season. Then – the 49ers moved to the famous Candlestick Park. There, the 49ers shared with the baseball San Francisco Giants. 2013 was the final season at Candlestick Park before moving into the new, beautiful Levi’s Stadium.

Levi’s Stadium is named after the Levi Strauss & Co. group. The ground was broken in 2012, and it officially opened in 2014. The 49ers are the only team that consistently calls it home, while each winter, the San Francisco Bowl was played in College Football from 2014 to 2019.

Other events that have gone down at Levi’s Stadium include Soccer, College Football, Rugby World Cup, Wrestlemania 31, professional hockey, and Super Bowl 50 was played there. Super Bowl 50 was held between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. Obviously, Levi’s Stadium is also a very popular venue for concerts. The very first concert held here was Kenny Chesney in May of 2015.

The history behind the San Francisco 49ers and their team name comes from their rich history in the Bay Area. The original owners of the franchise suggested the name “49ers” after voyagers rushed the West for gold.

San Francisco was one of the most popular West Coast cities to have them invade. When the 49ers originally came up with their logo, it was a gold miner in boots and a lumberjack shirt firing a pair of pistols.

The San Francisco 49ers have 612 career wins. The 49ers have 37 playoff wins. Joe Montana, of course, is likely the most popular name in franchise history. Montana finished with more than 35,000 passing yards and 244 touchdowns. His top target was Jerry Rice, who was 753 yards shy of 20,000 and came away with 176 touchdowns.

George Seifert won just one Super Bowl, but his regular season record of 98-30 will likely be one of the best of all time.

Jerry Rice scored 22 touchdowns in one season. Oh, and yeah, it was a season that saw just 12 regular-season games. This span will live for a long time as a record for the 49ers.

Finally, Frank Gore made a career in San Francisco. His 11,073 rushing yards is one that will go overlooked, as players seem to move far too often to get these numbers anymore in the league.

The San Francisco 49ers have had their share of success in the National Football League. The 49ers have been to the Super Bowl 7 times in franchise history, with 5 of them coming away as winners. The first one came on January 24th, 1982, at the Pontiac Super Bowl in Michigan. Super Bowl XVI went to the 49ers under the direction of Bill Walsh.

The 49ers beat the Bengals 26-21. San Francisco scored the first 20 points of the game and didn’t look back. Joe Montana was named Super Bowl MVP with 157 passing yards and a touchdown, while another 18 yards on the ground and a score.

Next came Super Bowl XIX. This finished up the 1984 season. This game was also never close, as the 49ers scored 28 first-half points and added 10 more in the third quarter. Bill Walsh and his 49ers had done 15-1 during the regular season and beat Don Shul’a Dolphins. San Francisco got 331 passing yards and 3 touchdowns from Joe Montana. The 331 passing yards was a Super Bowl record. Montana was once again named the Super Bowl MVP of the game.

A few years passed before the 49ers were back in the big game. Super Bowl XXIII went the 49ers’ way, and it was the third title for Bill Walsh as the head coach. This one, once again, was over the Cincinnati Bengals. The game was tied 3-3 at halftime, and Cincinnati led 13-6 after three.

The 4th quarter was huge for San Francisco, as they scored 14 points and won the game 20-16. This game was in front of 75,129 fans at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. Jerry Rice, this time was the Most Valuable Player with 11 catches, 215 yards, and a touchdown.

The very next year, the 49ers won another title. This was Super Bowl XXIV. This one was the most lopsided Super Bowl victory ever. Rookie head coach George Seifert won his first Super Bowl and did it 55-10 over the Denver Broncos. This win came in front of nearly 73,000 fans in New Orleans. Joe Montana won his third Super Bowl MVP with 287 passing yards and 5 touchdown passes. That was a record in Super Bowl history.

The final, most recent Super Bowl win for the San Francisco 49ers came back at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. This was a battle of all California at Super Bowl XXIX, as the 49ers took down the San Diego Chargers. After winning four Super Bowl titles, Joe Montana called it quits, and Steve Young took over as the quarterback.

This would be his first and only Super Bowl title, as they scored 49 points in the win. Young was named the Super Bowl MVP with 325 passing yards.

The 49ers have won their division 21 times. All of those came in the NFC West. The biggest dominance was in the 1980s, where they won it all but twice in a 10-year span. The 49ers won the division in 2022 for the first time since 2019.

San Francisco has gone to the postseason 29 times. First, they made it in 1949 out of the AAFC, but since then, they have reached the postseason 28 times in the National Football League. The 49ers come into the 2023 season looking for their third straight postseason trip. The 49ers went through a stretch between 1981-2022 where they made the postseason 18 times.

With all the success of the San Francisco 49ers comes a great line of great quarterbacks. While Joe Montana and Steve Young are the most common quarterbacks with the organization, John Brodie actually has made the most starts. Brodie was under .500, with 74 wins and 77 losses in his 159 games started.

Montana is second with 140 starts, winning 72% of them, while Young is third, with 124 starts and 91 wins. Other guys on the list of career starts include Y.A. Tittle, Alex Smith, Jeff Garcia, Colin Kaepernick, and Jimmy Garoppolo.

Montana holds the franchise record for passing yards and touchdowns. He finished his 49ers career with more than 35,000 passing yards and 244 touchdowns. Brodie was at 31,548 yards and 214 touchdowns.

Young has more passing touchdowns with 221, while a little less than 30,000 total passing yards. The crazy part of Young was not his 221 touchdowns but just 86 interceptions. Jeff Garcia and Y.A. Tittle are the only other guys with 100+ passing touchdowns.

Finally, discussing postseason success as the quarterback, after Tittle lost his only start in 1957 and John Brodie finished 2-3, it was the run of Joe Montana and Steve Young. Montana finished his career a staggering 14-5 in the postseason. Young was right behind him with an 8-6 record for the 49ers. Since Young, the success has been by 5 different guys. Jeff Garcia went 1-2, Alex Smith 1-1, Colin Kaepernick 4-2, Jimmy Garoppolo 4-2, and Brock Purdy 2-1.

The San Francisco 49ers have 15 players they call their own in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There are also two guys that were not players in, as well. Those two are Edward Debartolo Jr., the owner from 1977-2000. And also Bill Walsh, the head coach from 1979-1988 and then a front office member until 2004.

The first two San Francisco 49ers players to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame were running back Joe Perry and defensive tackle Leo Nomellini. Perry played with the team from 1948-1960 and then again in 1963. He was inducted in 1969. Nomellini played from 1949-1963.

There are three San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Y.A. Tittle was inducted in 1971, Joe Montana in 2000, and Steve Young in 2005.

Some other notable names in the Pro Football Hall of Fame from the San Francisco 49ers include receivers Jerry Rice and Terrell Ownes, along with others Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, and Bryant Young.

The very first regular season game for the franchise came against the New York Yankees. Yes, the Yankees were a football team at that time. Roger Craig of the 49ers became the first player in NFL history to have 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.

The first pick in 49ers history was lineman Leo Nomellini back in 1950. The San Francisco 49ers have a mascot named Sourdough Sam.