The San Francisco 49ers is one of the most recognisable franchises in world sport today, so the NFL side must’ve made both some good and bad decisions.
Having had countless Hall of Famers play for them, the Californian giants have won five Superbowls and are one of the NFL’s most dominant teams to date. But what’s got them to this stature?
Here are the five best decisions that the franchise has made on its way to victory.
5. Drafting Colin Kaepernick
Nowadays, Colin Kaepernick is one of the most controversial figures in all of sports. Back in 2011 though, he was just a 24-year-old rookie coming out of Nevada, taken by a flailing San Francisco 49ers team in the 2nd round of the Draft.
Having sat on the bench for his entire rookie season, he was used by now 2nd-year head coach Jim Harbaugh to use certain run-option plays, and scored his first touchdown in the team’s fourth game of the season against the New York Jets.
After Alex Smith went off with a concussion against the then St Louis Rams in Week 10, Kaepernick put on a second half clinic, going 11/17 on passing attempts for 117 yards, with an additional 66 yards and a rushing touchdown. He led the 49ers to an 11-4-1 record and into the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
In Kaepernick’s first career postseason start, he threw for 263 yards and two passing touchdowns, alongside an NFL record (for a quarterback) 181 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He would lead the 49ers to Superbowl XLVII against the Baltimore Ravens but would lose 34-31 in a close affair.
Despite leading the 49ers back to the NFC Championship Game the next season where they would lose to eventual Superbowl champions Seattle Seahawks, Kaepernick would now become more remembered for his pre-game antics where in 2016, he began kneeling during the U.S national anthem to protest the treatment of black Americans by law enforcement.
Whilst he is now often remembered more for this than his playing career, the two seasons that Kaepernick started in were two of the best 49ers’ seasons in recent memory and two of the most enjoyable for any NFL fan.
4. Trading for Steve Young
Before getting into the NFL, Steve Young was actually a quarterback in the newly formed United States Football League (USFL). Having been drafted 1st overall, but playing only one season due to his Los Angeles Express folding, he chose to buy out his contract and declare for the 1984 NFL Draft where he was picked 1st overall again by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
When Tampa Bay finished Young’s two seasons 2-14, they decided he was a bust and after drafting Vinny Testaverde with the 1st overall pick in the 1987 draft. Young would be traded to the San Francisco 49ers to serve as a backup to Joe Montana, mainly due to head coach Bill Walsh believing Young’s poor numbers in Tampa was due to a lack of talent around him and not because he was a bad player.
For years, he served as Montana’s faithful backup, only playing when Montana was injured but he played well. It wasn’t until the 1991 season where Young would really shine. With Montana out all season with an elbow injury, Young would finish the season with an NFL-best 101.8 passer rating, and whilst the team’s record slipped from 14-2 to 10-6, Young was still considered to be a bright spark in a weakened squad.
Winning three Superbowls, and two League MVPs following Montana’s trade to the Kansas City Chiefs, Young is remembered as one of the great quarterbacks in NFL history, despite only playing three full seasons. He holds some incredible postseason records, including most touchdowns thrown in a Superbowl (6), most passes attempted in a playoff game (65 vs. Green Bay, 1995) and most rushing touchdowns by a QB, postseason career (8). His #8 jersey was retired by the 49ers following Young’s own retirement in the 1999 season.
3. Drafting Jerry Rice
Before his NFL debut, Jerry Rice was a hot prospect out of Mississippi Valley State, setting multiple NCAA records like most catches in a game (24), most touchdown receptions in a season (27), most receiving yards in a season (1,845) and was named a first-team Division I All-American.
Going into the draft, it’s widely regarded as one of the best NFL Draft steals of all time – the 49ers picked up Rice with the 16th overall pick. Of the 15 players ahead of him, only two were fellow Hall of Famers.
Rice lit up the league as soon as he joined, leading the NFL in receiving yards in just his second season. He would go on to lead the league in receiving yards a further six times, as well as lead the league in touchdown receptions another six times.
He won three Superbowls with the 49ers, and holds 13 NFL Records as of the end of the 2019 season including Most career receiving yards (22,895), Most career touchdown receptions (197), Most seasons with 1000 or more receiving yards (14) and he was the Fastest player to reach 13,000, 14,000 and 15,000 receiving yards.
He is undoubtedly the greatest wide receiver of all time, and arguably the greatest player of all time. The 49ers retired Rice’s #80 jersey number following his retirement in 2004.
2. Drafting Joe Montana
With nicknames like “Joe Cool” and “The Comeback Kid”, Joe Montana is one of the most legendary players to ever play in the NFL. One of, if not the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Joe Montana is a 49ers legend.
Drafted in the 3rd round of the 1980 NFL Draft, with the 82nd pick, Montana played for several years at the helm of the franchise alongside head coach Bill Walsh. He was, of course, involved in the most famous NFL moment, ‘The Catch’, where with just 59 seconds left on the clock in the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys, Montana rolled to his right and threw an off-balance pass towards the back of the endzone which wide receiver Dwight Clark grabbed to win the 49ers the game and send them to the Superbowl which they would eventually win.
Whilst Montana’s career numbers are not as impressive as others, his career highlights are bar none some of the greatest, which include a 92-yard drive with just two minutes left on the clock in Superbowl XXIII to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-21. His record as a starter was 117-47 and lead 32 fourth-quarter-come-from-behind victories in his career. Montana also famously never threw an interception in a Superbowl, and is undefeated in his four Superbowl appearances throwing for a combined 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns, meaning he possesses the NFL record for best Superbowl passer rating with 127.8.
Montana defines the word ‘clutch’ and his ability to keep calm under pressure is what made him so great.
- Hiring Bill Walsh
Whilst Joe Montana and Steve Young had the talent to do what they did, none of it would’ve been possible without Bill Walsh.
The man who consistently believed himself to be a failure, Walsh turned out to be one of the NFL’s greatest ever head coaches, despite his early years not being as successful as some might think.
An understudy to the legendary head coach Paul Brown at the Bengals, Walsh would develop his famous ‘West Coast Offense’, a philosophy that relied on quick, short horizontal throws rather than the deep throws NFL teams typically played at the time.
This philosophy would become key to his success with the 49ers, and Walsh would become known for his great eye for talent – drafting future Hall of Famers Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana, Charles Haley and Jerry Rice.
Whilst his early years as 49ers head coach went terribly, boasting a 2-14 records in the 1979/80 season, Walsh got the franchise and its fans to buy into his tactical genius and following a 6-10 1980/81 season, he won his first Superbowl with the 49ers in 1981/82 and would win two more as head coach of the franchise.
His success made the 49ers into the dynasty it is today and made them one of the most recognisable franchises in American sport. In his nine seasons with the 49ers, Walsh’s record was 92-59-1, with a win percentage of 61%.
