Meet the 49ers T he game of football is played at a fast and furious pace The team that moves and thinks the quickest usually comes out on top However it didn’t used to be that way In the early days of professional football the sport was a contest of brute strength The San Francisco 49ers were one of the teams that changed the game The 49ers have always looked for a different kind of player one who combines exciting skill with great toughness They are known as one of the most entertaining teams in all of sports Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose but they always play unforgettable football This book tells the story of the 49ers All these years later they still use the same recipe for success San Francisco works hard to find special players that other teams overlook They make the 49ers very hard to beat and San Francisco football loads of fun to watch Alex Smith hands off to Frank Gore They mixed toughness with talent to become important team leaders 5
Glory Days P ro football is a sport of speed and power It is also a sport of survival In its first 25 years the game survived the challenges of the Great Depression and World War II By 1946 pro football was ready to take off That season a new league started play The All-America Football Conference AAFC set itself up as a competitor to the older National Football League NFL The AAFC placed teams in cities where the NFL did not have one including San Francisco California The team was named the 49ers It was owned by two brothers Vic and Tony Morabito who ran a successful lumber company The 49ers got their name from the pioneers who traveled to California in 1849 after gold was discovered there The Morabitos signed a number of players who had been college stars in the San Francisco area including quarterback Frankie Albert 6
and receiver Alyn Beals The Morabitos hired Buck Shaw to coach the team He was from nearby Santa Clara College The AAFC lasted four years The 49ers finished second in their division each season to the Cleveland Browns Both teams were invited to join the NFL in 1950 Over the next few years San Francisco put great talent on the field including running backs Joe Perry John Henry Johnson and Hugh McElhenny receivers Billy Wilson and Gordy Soltau linemen Leo Nomellini and Bob St Clair and quarterback Y A Tittle After struggling in the 1960s the 49ers regrouped and twice played for the championship of the National Football Conference NFC in the early 1970s San Francisco had some good players including quarterback John Brodie receiver Gene Washington and running back Ken Willard Charlie Krueger Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wilcox led the defense However it was not until Bill Walsh became the coach and quarterback Joe Montana took control of the offense that the 49ers turned into a great all-around team In the 1981 season LEFT Buck Shaw ABOVE John Brodie hands off to Ken Willard on the cover of a 1971 football magazine 7
