49ER LEGEND APPRECIATION THREAD

[y2lamanaki]

34 minutes ago, NcFinest9erFan said:

 I'll never forgive Mike Martz for not using Vernon Davis that year.

 

Edit: Whoops Wrong year

I try to forget 2007, but I remember exactly two things from that game. One I remembered before watching. The other I remembered while watching. 

-The thing I remembered going in was the Patrick Willis hustle tackle chasing down a WR.

-The thing I remembered while watching was the old familiar feeling of "great, we took the lead with 1:15 left in the game and our opponent has only one timeout........There's no chance in hell we end up winning this game." 

Glad I no longer have that one. 

A couple other thoughts:

-Huh...I was wrong. That was a happy surprise. 

-I can do without ever watching that much Trent Dilfer football again in my lifetime. 

-Poor Frank. Why couldn't the Chargers just know instinctively that Norv Turner was not meant to be a head coach? Instead we had to waste prime Frank Gore in that miserable offense. 

[NcFinest9erFan]

34 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

I try to forget 2007, but I remember exactly two things from that game. One I remembered before watching. The other I remembered while watching. 

-The thing I remembered going in was the Patrick Willis hustle tackle chasing down a WR.

-The thing I remembered while watching was the old familiar feeling of "great, we took the lead with 1:15 left in the game and our opponent has only one timeout........There's no chance in hell we end up winning this game." 

Glad I no longer have that one. 

A couple other thoughts:

-Huh...I was wrong. That was a happy surprise. 

-I can do without ever watching that much Trent Dilfer football again in my lifetime. 

-Poor Frank. Why couldn't the Chargers just know instinctively that Norv Turner was not meant to be a head coach? Instead we had to waste prime Frank Gore in that miserable offense. 

 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

Ronnie Lott A Football Life was just released. 

I'm usually lukewarm on the A Football Life docs, because some of them don't reveal that much new information. This one was great though. I had suspected the reason, but I was never sure about why Bill moved Ronnie to safety for certain around 1985, so it would good to get definitive information about that. I also didn't know that he wasn't a fan of the move. The effect his amputation had on his life was something I never expected. All you ever hear is about how glorious Lott was for going through with the procedure.

BTW, he has a beautiful family. Looks like he is enjoying retirement well. Also, it was great to hear some of the OGs being interviewed. Marcus Allen, Keena Turner, and Dwight Hicks are getting up there in age, but still got that crisp hairline. Damn.

[adamq]

On 10/13/2019 at 7:52 AM, oldman9er said:

What a strong list ( AND THEN SOME ) to choose from. 

Tops for me will always be none other than:

 

( J.R. )

 

 

HM goes to :

 

( B.Y. )

Definitely my top 2.. Frank Gore is my guy at 3

[TecmoSuperJoe]

I'm surprised Bryant Young isn't in the 49ers Hall of Fame.

[oldman9er]

9 hours ago, adamq said:

Definitely my top 2.. Frank Gore is my guy at 3

I can't decide which order, but I would feel good about Frank Gore, Steve Young, and Tom Rathman filling in my top 5 all-time. 

( don't really like to live in the past or reflect much backwards, but if to even give it a thought, so many great 9ers memories )   

[y2lamanaki]

1 hour ago, oldman9er said:

I can't decide which order, but I would feel good about Frank Gore, Steve Young, and Tom Rathman filling in my top 5 all-time. 

( don't really like to live in the past or reflect much backwards, but if to even give it a thought, so many great 9ers memories )   

You're not living in the past, if it helps. You're celebrating the team's rich history. Nothing wrong with that. Especially in Year 100. Feels all kinds of fitting. 

[struby3]

Tough to choose between Rice and Young for me, but I went with Jerry. GOAT.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1988 Week 8 San Francisco 49ers (5-2) at Chicago Bears (6-1)

Good game. Especially for a low scoring, defensive dominated affair. As a 49ers fan, I have to credit the Bears defense for their effort in stifling the 49ers offense especially in the run game. Craig had an all pro season that year, and they completely shut him down. Of course when the 49ers decided to go to the air, Montana was under constant pressure with 4 sacks, and a zillion hurries/knockdowns. Still, the 49ers had chances to win it. Dropped passes, dumb penalties, and Joe seemingly not 100% due to injury contributed to the loss. Mike Cofer was a terrible kicker. That must have been a long flight back to San Francisco, in particular when as a player you know the NFC West crown was going to be difficult to obtain with the Saints and Rams make it a tight race. At least the defense showed up. Obviously it all worked out a couple of months later for the 49ers. Ron Rivera, then linebacker for the Bears, makes a few good plays. 

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by PapaShogun

[rudyZ]

Need I mention, in this 49ers legends thread, that I've attended only one niner game, it was in London, and witnessed the first start of the legendary Troy Smith, after witnessing then back-up and future bronco legend Tim Tebow warm up and then not play.

I think this thread can now be locked. Enough has been said.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1983 Week 8 San Francisco 49ers (5-2) at Los Angeles Rams (5-2)

Mid-season battle for the NFC West crown. This was a good game that picked up in the 2nd quarter, and got really good in the 4th quarter when the Rams essentially imploded, turning the ball over twice deep in their own territory for TD scores. Compared to the game that was played between the teams a couple of weeks prior which resulted in a 10-7 home loss for San Francisco, the next meeting had more fireworks.

Carlton Williamson had a heck of game, and was everywhere getting into the backfield and tackling Eric Dickerson. Despite this, Dickerson still went off for over 100 yards. Vince Ferragamo had 5 touchdowns, but crumbled in crunch time. Something else of note is how awful the 49ers special teams played on kick returns. The defense seemed to give up big plays more so than getting killed by a 1000 paper cuts. They even allowed a touchdown in like two plays before the half was over with less than 30 seconds to go. Cornerback Dwight Hicks didn't play this game because of a contract dispute, forcing Ronnie Lott to move to FS. This was during the time when Lott was still playing corner primarily. 

Worth a watch if you have time. D.Stockton in his prime with Wayne Walker on the call. 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by PapaShogun

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1981 Week 9 San Francisco 49ers (6-2) at (5-3) Pittsburgh Steelers

Montana vs. Bradshaw. Walsh vs. Noll. The Steel Curtain vs. Camelot.

Not a bad game. Probably the closest two dynasty teams will come to facing one another. Steelers dynasty ending, and the 49ers just starting. The funny thing is, this was not a shining performance for either team. The Steelers turned the ball over 6 times, including 4 in the first half. Two of those turnovers came near the end of the first half, which led to 10 49ers points. Demoralizing, because the 49ers offense couldn't muster anything before that. Montana to start the second half had two nasty interceptions on back to back possessions which led to the Steelers only points of the day, two touchdowns. Both defenses played pretty well for each team at least. 49ers pass rush couldn't get to Bradshaw, but their secondary played very well, and got a bunch of turnovers. The Steelers defense prevented the 6 turnovers from turning into a much bigger blowout.

Disclaimer: If you watch this game, be aware that the first Pittsburgh touchdown is missing from this version of the broadcast. Come shortly after halftime on the 49ers initial possession. It's a 50 yard interception return for a touchdown by Mel Blount for the Steelers. Long story short, Montana gets jittery in the pocket, and throws a bad pass to his left toward the sideline. Easy pickings for Mel. 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1982 "Week 13" San Francisco 49ers (1-3) at Los Angeles Rams (1-3)

 

A special Thursday night edition of Monday Night Football on ABC. This is the third week of NFL action after the two month long labor dispute that stopped football operations after week 2 that year. So it's "week 13", but really only 4 games have been played.

This game is hard to get through at times. The performance from the 49ers in particular, was microcosm of their shortened season. Long story short, the offense couldn't run the ball at all, and Montana is forced to air it out making the approach very one dimensional, even if effective. The defense performed lackluster, especially against the pass. Rams QB Vince Faragamo had all day to throw, and consistently hit open receivers for big gains. If it wasn't for a few easy drops from the Rams receivers, they could have easily won this game. If you want to see Ronnie Lott get burned multiple times, this is the one to watch. However, the Rams themselves were a bad team winning only two games the entire year resulting in the firing of their head coach Ray Malavasi. Their offense was essentially a mirror image of the 49ers as well. Couldn't run the ball worth a lick, and relied on Feragamo to pass. Their defense didn't leave much to be desired either. Both pass games combined for 603 net yards, but the contest really didn't feel like some memorable shootout. In addition, 14 penalties didn't help move the show along. 49ers pull it out at the end, but would finish the season 3-6, missing the playoffs, which is pretty sad since due to the strike that year a special 16 team tournament expanded the spots to eight per conference. 

The 1982 season is largely one to forget, but if you like trainwrecks, it's interesting to see what went wrong for the defending Super Bowl champions. Apparently, according to interviews with Walsh and several players at the time there were multiple reasons for the collapse. The most obvious was the strike, which could easily disrupt any team's chemistry. Especially after the season starts. A two month break is almost like a mini offseason. To come back and immediately start chopping away like nothing happened is a lot to ask. Of course other teams like the Redskins and Raiders seemed to do fine. Injuries also screwed things up. Dwaine Board, a top three defensive player for the 49ers missed the entire season with a knee injury, Fred Dean dealt with a nagging groin injury that limited the fellow pass rusher's effectiveness, and their top draft choice, rookie offensive lineman Bubba Paris also missed the season with a knee injury. With a reduced pass rush, the secondary completely crumbled. Part of it may have just been the three rookies starting the previous year (Ronnie Lott, Carlton Williamson, and Eric Wright) having a sophmore slump. So no quality defense was stacked with a terrible running game. The 49ers, like in their Super Bowl season, basically had lackluster contributors pounding the rock, or trying to. It just got worse in 1982, and it's clear after the season Bill Walsh made fixing the running game a priority by trading for Wendell Tyler from the Rams, and drafting future franchise back Roger Craig with their top draft pick in 1983. Lastly beyond the strike, injuries, and terrible run game, there was chatter of a drug problem with a few players that Walsh even later admitted to being a real thing. All in all it was a compound of problems that the 49ers just couldn't overcome. Maybe some of the squad got overconfident after the Super Bowl too. If you want to read more details about it, there was a nice article I found published in 1983 when the 49ers had gotten back to their winning ways after a 6-2 start.

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/30/sports/49ers-are-rolling-again-after-collapsing-in-1982.html

 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1983 Week 15 San Francisco 49ers (8-6) at Buffalo Bills (8-6) 

Decent game between two teams trying to make the playoffs. 49ers are in tight race with the LA Rams for the division crown. Bills need to win out, and get help in a competitive AFC. Both squads duke it out in the bitter cold. 

This is a pretty decent game, and quality win for the 49ers overall. Having Wendell Tyler an Roger Craig as runners makes a stark difference compared to who was on the roster the previous season. Montana is having a solid year, and makes some nice throws in the game, along with some tight catches by Dwight Clark. 49ers are 2nd in the NFL in sacks, but can't get to Bills QB Joe Ferguson most of the day. Speaking of Fuerguson, he puts on a turkey of a performance, throwing two bad interceptions in the first half. Although the 49ers only score 6 points in the first half, they start to roll in the second half offensively. The Bills help them out further by turning the ball over 3 more times in the second half: two on kickoffs in the third, and at the end of the game that essentially puts a finish to any Bills miracle comeback attempt. Despite getting sacked 5 times, Montana plays pretty well, and was probably the player of the game to me. Classic D. Stockton and Wayne Walker on the broadcast. 

One other note, the Bills best player on offense was probably Joe Cribbs, a talented runner who spent his best years in Buffalo during the early 1980s. However, he wasn't a fan of having to reside in Buffalo, and tried to, and eventually was successful in leaving for the USFL after the 1983 season following a loony contract dispute that eventually was settled in a Buffalo court. Cribbs was soon dissatisfied with the contract he received with the USFL's Birmingham Stallions, and returned to the NFL in 1985 for the Bills. He then went on to share the load with Roger Craig when he became a 49er in 1986 and 1987. He wasn't the same player as he was earlier in the decade though, and soon retired after 1988. 

Edited December 5, 2019 by PapaShogun

[NcFinest9erFan]

2002 NFC wild game vs the Giants. Its the first time in my life that I stopped watching a Niners game because we were getting whooped. I was 12-13 at the time but my dad sat on the couch and watched the entire thing. I don't think I got back on the couch till after Shockey dropped what would of been his second TD. I still remember after we scored and got the 2pt conversion to make it 38-22, Michael Strahan going up to TO and pointing to the scoreboard. I still remember thinking, hey we might go into TB and win. Yeah that was a WISHFUL thinking.