Eddie DeBartolo Jr. was just 31 years old when he purchased the 49ers in 1977. Until that point, the 49ers, who joined the NFL in 1950, had enjoyed moderate success, making the playoffs four times that included three consecutive postseason trips from 1970-72. They made consecutive NFC title game appearances in 1970 and '71, only to fall to more seasoned Cowboys teams on both occasions.
After several lean years, DeBartolo's team began to take shape shortly after he hired Bill Walsh as head coach. After just two years on the job, Walsh and the 49ers were Super Bowl bound after upsetting the Cowboys in the NFC title game. In Super Bowl XVI, Walsh defeated his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals, en route to the franchise's first world championship. Those two wins jumpstarted the 49ers' dynasty, as San Francisco would win five Super Bowls from 1981-94. They would also win at least 10 regular-season games each year from 1983-98, a record that was recently surpassed by the Patriots. And while they haven't won the Super Bowl since January of 1995, the 49ers did manage to make it back to the big game twice during the 2010s, coming up short in both games.
During their first 75 years of existence (including five in the defunct All-American Football Conference), the 49ers have boasted some of the greatest players in pro football history. Before they begin their 76th season, we decided to create the 49ers' all-time 53-man roster, built the way modern teams create their 53-man rosters. Before we dive into the roster, here's a rundown of some of the tougher decisions that were made for final cuts.
Biggest roster cuts: It was difficult leaving quarterbacks Y.A. Tittle and John Brodie off the list. Tittle, one of the greatest quarterbacks during the NFL's first half century, played the majority of his Hall of Fame career with the 49ers. Brodie, who won three NFL passing titles, spent his entire 17-year career in San Francisco, guiding the 49ers to those NFC title games at the start of the '70s. But as great as these players were, we had to draw the line somewhere, so we decided to go with just Joe Montana and Steve Young as the two quarterbacks on the depth chart while making more room for other notable players at other positions.
Almost as difficult were the decisions to leave running back Ricky Watters, a fabulous player on the early '90s teams, and fullback Tom Rathman, a key piece of the 49ers' offense during the late '80s, off the roster. As good as they both were, the 49ers had players that were just a little bit better at both positions. At running back, Watters was edged out by Hugh McElhenny, a Hall of Fame player and member of the team's fabled "Million Dollar Backfield." Another member of that backfield, fullback Joe Perry, edged out Rathman on the 53-man roster. A fellow member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Perry won consecutive rushing titles while leading the league in rushing touchdowns three times.
Now that we've tackled the roster's toughest decisions, let's take a look at the 49ers' all-time 53-man roster.
Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are denoted with (*)
Offense
| Starter | Backup | Depth | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
QB |
Joe Montana* |
Steve Young* |
|
|
RB |
Roger Craig |
Hugh McElhenny* |
|
|
FB |
Joe Perry* |
||
|
WR |
Jerry Rice* |
Freddie Solomon |
|
|
WR |
Terrell Owens* |
Gene Washington |
|
|
SWR |
Dwight Clark |
John Taylor |
|
|
TE |
George Kittle |
Brent Jones |
|
|
LT |
Joe Staley |
Steve Wallace |
|
|
LG |
Jesse Sapolu |
John Ayers |
|
|
C |
Randy Cross |
Forrest Blue |
|
|
RG |
Guy McIntyre |
Woody Peoples |
|
|
RT |
Bob St. Clair* |
Harris Barton |
As great as Young was during his Hall of Fame career, there was no hesitation when making Montana the team's starting quarterback. A four-time Super Bowl champion, Montana was also the first player in NFL history to win three Super Bowl MVP awards. While he threw 11 touchdowns in Super Bowl competition, Montana never threw an interception in the big game. His 92-yard game-winning drive at the end of Super Bowl XXIII is one of the most iconic moments in Super Bowl history. A year later, his five touchdown passes against the Broncos was the Super Bowl record until Young fired six touchdown passes in the 49ers' win over the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. Young, who replaced Montana at the start of the 1991 season, retired with two league MVP awards. His 96.4 career quarterback ranking was the highest in NFL history at the time of his retirement.
The 49ers' backfield is headlined by Roger Craig and Frank Gore. Craig, a three-time Super Bowl champion, was the first player in league history to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. The third-leading rusher in NFL history, Gore spearheaded the 49ers' run to three consecutive NFC title game appearances from 2011-13. Another valuable member of those 49ers teams was tight end Vernon Davis, who edged out Brent Jones for the starting spot on the roster.
You'll be hard-pressed to find a better group of receivers than the ones on this roster. Leading the way is Jerry Rice, the NFL's all-time career leader in catches, receiving yards and touchdown receptions. A three-time Super Bowl champion, Rice caught 28 passes for 512 yards and seven touchdowns in his three Super Bowls with the 49ers. He took home MVP honors after catching 11 passes for a record 215 yards and a score in San Francisco's 20-16 win over the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. John Taylor, Rice's teammate on that team, caught the game-winning score in that game: a 10-yard pass from Montana with 34 seconds left. A great player in his own right, Taylor earned consecutive Pro Bowl honors in 1988 and '89, averaging 18 yards per catch during the '89 season.
As great as Rice and Taylor were, neither player is the owner of arguably the most famous catch in NFL history. That distinction belongs to Dwight Clark, whose game-winning touchdown in the '81 NFC Championship Game jump-started the birth of the 49ers' dynasty. Clark's reception, known in NFL lore as "The Catch," was recently named the second-greatest play in NFL history as part of the league's centennial celebration.
San Francisco's offensive line includes five players from the team's dynasty years, led by center Randy Cross and guards Jesse Sapolu and Guy McIntyre. The group also includes Hall of Fame tackle Bob St. Clair, whose blocking helped create space for the "Million Dollar Backfield" while also helping the 49ers win their first division title in 1957. The group also includes tackle Joe Staley, a six-time Pro Bowler who recently concluded his 13-year career.
Defense
| Starter | Backup | Depth | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
LDE |
Bryant Young |
Cedrick Hardman |
|
|
DT |
Leo Nomellini* |
Michael Carter |
|
|
RDE |
Fred Dean* |
Justin Smith |
|
|
OLB |
Charles Haley* |
||
|
Patrick Willis |
Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds |
||
|
MLB |
Dave Wilcox |
Ken Norton Jr. |
NaVorro Bowman |
|
OLB |
Keena Turner |
Ahmad Brooks |
|
|
LCB |
Jimmy Johnson |
Ronnie Lott* |
|
|
RCB |
Deion Sanders* |
Abe Woodson |
Eric Wright |
|
SS |
Tim McDonald | Carlton Williamson | |
| FS | Ronnie Lott* | Merton Hanks | Dwight Hicks |
While its offense has traditionally received more fanfare, San Francisco has fielded several dominant defenses throughout the decades. The 49ers' defensive tradition can be traced back to 1950 with the arrival of Leo Nomellini, who earned 10 Pro Bowl and six All-Pro selections during his 14-year career. The other Hall of Fame defensive lineman on this roster is Fred Dean, who helped the 49ers win their first Super Bowl shortly after being traded from San Diego. Dean's 17.5 sacks in 1983 stood as the franchise's single season record until Aldon Smith, who made the roster as a backup, passed him with 19.5 sacks during the 2012 season.
Speaking of linebackers, the 49ers have pretty formidable group on this roster, led by Hall of Famer Charles Haley, who recorded 66.5 sacks during his eight seasons in San Francisco. The group also includes Hall of Fame middle linebacker Dave Wilcox, the team's best defensive player on San Francisco's two teams that reached the NFC Championship Game in the early '70s. And while he was selected to just one Pro Bowl during his 11-year career, Keena Turner was a starter on each of the 49ers' Super Bowl teams during the 1980s. Turner spent four of those seasons starting alongside Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds, whose veteran leadership helped a young 49ers defense come of age during the early part of the decade. Patrick Willis, the defensive leader on the 49ers' 2013 NFC title team, was a Hall of Fame semifinalist during his first year of eligibility.
The 49ers' secondary features two of the greatest to ever play their respective positions in Ronnie Lott and Deion Sanders. Lott, a 10-time Pro Bowler, and six-time All-Pro, actually starred at cornerback before becoming arguably the greatest free safety in NFL history. And while he only spent one season in San Francisco, Sanders made it count. In 1994, his only season with the team, Sanders was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year after returning three of his six interceptions for touchdowns during the regular season. His lockdown coverage of future teammate Michael Irvin was a key facet in San Francisco's victory over Dallas in that year's NFC title game.
Two other members of San Francisco's secondary, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson, were part of the 49ers' 1981 draft class, a group that also included Lott. Despite their youth, all three players earned starting jobs that season, recording a combined 19 interceptions during the regular season while helping the 49ers win their first Super Bowl. Their teammate in the backfield was Dwight Hicks, a former department store clerk who signed with the 49ers in 1979. In 1984, Hicks was captain of a 49ers defense that shut down Dan Marino and the rest of the Dolphins' prolific offense in Super Bowl XIX.
Special Teams
| Starter | Backup | |
|---|---|---|
|
K |
Ray Wersching |
|
|
P |
Andy Lee |
|
|
LS |
Brian Jennings |
|
|
KR |
Joe Perry* |
Hugh McElhenny* |
|
PR |
John Taylor |
Freddie Solomon |
The team's kicker for 11 seasons, Wersching's four field goals helped the 49ers beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, 26-21. Lee, a four-time Pro Bowler during his 11 seasons with the 49ers, averaged a league-high 50.9 yards per punt in 2011. Along with his exploits in Super Bowl XXIII, Taylor's '88 season also included a Pro Bowl selection as a punt returner, as he led the league in punt returns for touchdowns (two) and return average (12.6) during the regular season. As a rookie, Perry's 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the league's longest during the 1948 season.
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49ers all-time 53-man roster: Several 'G.O.A.T.'s headline San Francisco's legendary lineup - CBS Sports
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