Logos and uniforms edit
Logo edit
The original 49ers logo was a mustached 49er gold miner from the 1849 California Gold Rush, dressed in plaid pants and a red shirt, jumping in midair with his hat falling off, and firing pistols in each hand: one nearly shooting his foot, and the other pistol forming the word "Forty-Niners" from its smoke.[1] An alternate logo with a shield-shaped crest formed from the number "49", with a football in the upper right quadrant and "SF" in the lower-left quadrant was created in 1965 andused for marketing purposes until 1972. From 1962, the 49ers' logo has been the iconic "SF" within the center of a red oval; throughout the years the logo has had minor modifications, such as a black outlining on the intertwined "SF" that was added in 1989 and a gold trimming inside the oval that was added in 1996.
Uniforms edit
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The San Francisco 49ers have two different uniforms: red and gold home uniforms and white, red, and gold road uniforms. However, the 49ers have changed uniform designs and color combinations quite often throughout their history. From the team's inception in 1946, they wore dark or cardinal red, switching to scarlet red jerseys and gold pants for the 1948 season, with a gold helmet with one red stripe, with solid red socks and pants with no stripes. Entering the 1949 season, the first in the NFL, the 49ers adopted three stripes to their red jerseys, wearing gold helmets and pants, with no stripes and red socks with three white stripes. In the 1953, '54, and '55 seasons, the 49ers wore red helmets with a gold stripe in the middle, with silver pants with one single stripe of red. The socks also added the three stripes similar to the jersey's. 1955 was also unique in that the 49ers wore white pants with a black stripe bounded by two red stripes, and shadow drop numbers on their red jerseys, with black shadow drop borders on the white numerals. The following season, 1956, the team wore white helmets with no stripes, and white pants with a red stripe. In 1957 the 49ers wore red jerseys, a gold helmet with no stripes, and gold pants with no stripes; for the first time the 49ers wore white on the road, as dictated by the NFL for all teams, to have at least one team wearing a light-colored jersey during games. The first white jersey had two red stripes with a gold in the middle, as was their road socks: white, with two red stripes and gold in the middle. San Francisco wore red and gold in 1958 as well, with their white jersey having a single shoulder loop stripe, as well as adding TV numbers to the sleeves of their home and away jerseys. And in contrast to the socks at home, red with three red stripes, the away socks were solid red. In 1959 the team switched to red and platinum gold (looking more like silver), and for the next several years afterwards, with their white jerseys having double shoulder loop stripes (mimicking UCLA's), but continuing with the three white stripes on the sleeves above the elbow and below the TV numbers, with the red home jerseys. In 1960, the team added "Northwestern" red stripes to their helmets (a thicker middle stripe bordered by two thinner stripes), and that changed in 1962, with the addition of the helmet design the team has mostly worn since: white stripe bounded by two red, with the red oval and SF logo on the sides of the helmet. In 1964 the team's colors then changed again. All silver elements were changed to what was called "49er Gold;" helmets were gold. New beige-gold pants with a red-white-red tri-stripe in the same style as the helmet were introduced. Uniform's basic design would be worn for practically the next 30 seasons with only some minor changes and adjustments, such as a gradual change over from sans-serif to serifed block numerals from 1970 to 1974 and a switch from thin stripes to a very thick pant striping in 1976 (during which white jerseys were also worn at home for most of that season). The uniform ensemble of red and white jerseys, and beige-gold pants with thick striping were worn until 1995 with a few minor changes. During the 1994 season, many NFL teams wore "throwback uniforms" on occasional games to celebrate the NFL's 75th anniversary (a corresponding diamond-shaped 75th Anniversary patch was also worn by all teams) . The 49ers chose to wear a version of their 1955 uniforms as their throwbacks, with simpler sans-serif block numerals that were outlined and shadowed in black with White pants with thinner red-black-red striping were also worn, along with the old striped red socks. The regular 1989–95 design gold helmet was worn with this uniform, as there was no logo on the 1955 helmet.
In 1996, the 49ers celebrated their 49th anniversary by designing a commemorative jersey patch based on the earlier shield-crest logo. The team also debuted a substantially new uniform design, most notably changing the shade of red used in their jerseys from bright scarlet to a deeper, cardinal red a black dropshadow effect (along with gold trim) was added to the jersey numerals (which remained in the blocked serif style). As in 1994, the Niners donned white pants full-time for the 1996 season (also wearing them for the 1997 season and 1998 preseason,) though this time the pant stripes were marginally thicker and the colors were reversed to black-cardinal red-black (matching the striping on the helmets). For the 1998 regular-season opener, the team switched back to gold pants, with a more metallic gold rather than the previous beige-matte gold of the past. The striping along the side of the pants remained black-cardinal red-black, though a thin gold trimming was added, along with further oval "SF" logos placed on both sides of the hip.[2]
The 1996 helmet and jersey design with the 1998 gold pants was worn as the team's regular uniforms until the end of the 2008 season. The 49ers once again changed uniforms in 2009, which are very similar to the classic design, albeit with several significant changes. The sleeve stripes are now set at an angle to accommodate the even shorter sleeves of modern jerseys, (though the stripes appear straight and parallel to the ground when worn by the players themselves).[3] An updated 49ers uniform with improved fit, and more breathable and moisture-resistant fabrics was debuted (alongside the rest of the NFL teams) by new league uniform manufacturer Nike on April 3, 2012.[4]
On April 30, 2015 at their NFL Draft rally, the team unveiled their first ever alternate uniform (as opposed to a throwback design). The uniform consists of black jerseys and pants with red numerals and striping. Nike logos are in gold, while the standard solid red socks will be worn. These uniforms will be worn a maximum of two games a year, per league rules.[5][6]
In 2018, the 49ers unveiled a new alternate uniform, discarding their all-black alternates in favor of an all-white alternate. It was made in the style of 1994, with the letters and numerals larger and more pronounced shadows. The helmets were the solid gold, but were used with the old 49ers logo (no striping and shadows). They wear the uniforms once every season, normally on Alumni Day.
However, the 49ers wore the uniform once on the road, in their week 17 finale at Seattle in 2019. They also lobbied the NFL to wear them in Super Bowl LIV, but the request was denied. The NFL cited that the teams’ uniforms with the patch were already being sold.
In 2021, the 49ers unveiled a red version of the 1994 throwback uniforms for use in select home games, with the white version now worn exclusively on the road.
Culture edit
Cheerleaders edit
The 49ers official cheerleading squad is called the Gold Rush.[7] Started in the early 1980s, the first squad consisted of 14 dancers.[8]
In November 2018, shortly before the start of a game against the Oakland Raiders, a cheerleader for the San Francisco 49ers appeared to kneel during the US national anthem, becoming the first NFL cheerleader to do so.[9] The act of kneeling during the national anthem began with the quarterback Colin Kaepernick to raise awareness about racism and police brutality.[10]
Mascot edit
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The 49ers official mascot is Sourdough Sam. He wears jersey number 49.[11]
Rivalries edit
The San Francisco 49ers have three rivals within their division: the Los Angeles Rams, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Seattle Seahawks. They also have rivalries with other teams that arose from post-season games in the past, most notably the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Green Bay Packers. They also share an intrastate rivalry with the Los Angeles Chargers (the two teams have played each other nearly every preseason, and every four years in the regular season, and also met in Super Bowl XXIX).[12]
NFC West edit
Los Angeles Rams edit
The rivalry between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers is considered by many to be one of the greatest NFL rivalries ever, placing No. 8 on Sports Illustrated's "Top 10 NFL Rivalries of All Time" list, compiled in 2008.[13] After the Rams moved to St. Louis, Roger Craig stated in Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline that "the Rams will always be the 49ers' biggest rival. It doesn't matter if they no longer play in Los Angeles. If the Rams played their home games on Mars, it would still be a rivalry."[14] In fact, the Rams are the only team to have played the 49ers twice every season for the last 58 seasons[15] to combine for more than 100 regular season games; the all-time regular season lead is held by the 49ers 72–67–3. They have only met once in a playoff game, when the 49ers beat the Rams 30–3 in 1989.[16]
Seattle Seahawks edit
The Seattle Seahawks have become a new rival of the 49ers, following the NFL's realignment in 2002 that put both teams in the same division (Seattle had been a brief former rival during their inaugural 1976 season, when the team was in the old pre-realignment NFC West). Prior to 2002, the teams played each other almost every season during the pre-season, but only every three years during the regular season when the AFC West and NFC West teams faced each other. So far, their rivalry has not been as intense as other division foes because, for the most part, both teams have not been good at the same time. In the middle to late part of the decade, the Seahawks lost the division and their favorable record against the 49ers reflected this. However, games at Lumen Field, one of the toughest stadiums to play at as a visiting team, have still been difficult to win. The 49ers have a 3–7 record all-time at that stadium, with their largest margin of victory there being ten points, and failed to score a touchdown in four of those losses. The rivalry has intensified after the 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh out of Stanford in 2011, as he and Seahawks and former USC head coach Pete Carroll had an intense rivalry in college. Seattle leads the all-time series 20–15 after winning both regular-season games in 2014 and taking a week 7 win at Levi's Stadium in 2015.
Arizona Cardinals edit
The Arizona Cardinals are a recent growing rival of the 49ers. Unlike most rivalries of this team, the Arizona Cardinals are in the same division as the 49ers. The teams have been division rivals since 2002. Recently, there has been much bad blood between these two teams' players; an example of this is a Twitter "battle" between Darnell Dockett of Arizona and Vernon Davis of San Francisco.[17] Another clash was when Early Doucet of the Cardinals and Dashon Goldson of the Niners threw punches at each other. The clash of words between players of both teams, added with the decline of the other major rivalries of the 49ers, has led to the rivalry between the 49ers and the Cardinals becoming more heated. The 49ers hold the edge over the Cardinals all-time by 32–27.[18]
NFC edit
Green Bay Packers edit
The Green Bay Packers rivalry emerged in the mid-1990s when the Packers upset the 49ers in the 1995 NFC Divisional game at Candlestick Park, ending any chance of a Super Bowl repeat. From that point, the Packers beat the 49ers four more times including two post-season games. San Francisco was finally able to exact revenge in the 1998 NFC Wild Card round, a game that is remembered for a 25-yard game-winning touchdown reception by Terrell Owens off a Steve Young pass (referred to by some as "The Catch II"), lifting the 49ers over the Packers 30–27. Since that game, the Packers had beaten the 49ers eight straight times including once in the 2001 post-season, a streak that came to an end in the 2012 season when the 49ers beat the Packers in Lambeau Field week 1 for the first time since 1990, and again in the NFC Divisional game that same season. In the 2019 season the 49ers and Packers met in the 2020 NFC Championship game at Levi's Stadium where the 49ers won 37–20, but went on to lose Super Bowl LIV to the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers trail the all-time series with a record of 32–37–1, including a 4–4 postseason split.
Historic rivals edit
 | This section possibly contains original research. (January 2013) |
Dallas Cowboys edit
The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the 49ers has lasted since the 1970s. The NFL Top 10 ranked this rivalry to be the tenth best in NFL history. San Francisco has played Dallas in seven postseason games. The Cowboys defeated the 49ers in the 1970 and 1971 NFC championship games, and again in the 1972 Divisional Playoff Game. The 1981 NFC championship game in San Francisco, which saw the 49ers' Joe Montana complete a game-winning pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute (now known as The Catch), is one of the most famous games in NFL history. The rivalry became even more intense during the 1992–1994 seasons. San Francisco and Dallas faced each other in the NFC championship game three separate times. Dallas won the first two match-ups, and San Francisco won the third. In each of these pivotal match-ups, the game's victor went on to win the Super Bowl. Both the Cowboys and the 49ers are second all-time in Super Bowl victories to the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots with five each. The 49ers–Cowboys rivalry is also part of the larger cultural rivalry between California and Texas. In recent years, this once-great rivalry has greatly softened, with the struggles of both the Cowboys and 49ers. However, in its prime especially in the 1990s, this rivalry was a very bitter one as both teams were the class of the NFL during this time.
New York Giants edit
The New York Giants have the most playoff meetings versus the 49ers (eight). This rivalry is rooted in the 1980s when both teams were on the rise. In the first two playoff meetings between these two teams, the Joe Montana-led 49ers won both meetings, 38–24 in 1981 and 21–10 in 1984 both in the divisional round at Candlestick Park; the 49ers went on to win their first two Super Bowl championships both seasons. The Giants won the next three playoff meetings, which included a 49–3 rout at Giants Stadium in 1986, and the 1990 NFC championship, where they upset the 49ers 15–13, ruining the 49ers hopes of a Super Bowl three-peat after Roger Craig lost a fumble late in the fourth quarter and let the Giants score on a last-second field goal. Giants also went on to win their first two Super Bowl championships both seasons. The 49ers defeated the Giants 44–3 in 1993 in the divisional round.[19] In the 2002 NFC Wildcard game, the Giants were ahead 38–14 late in the third quarter; however, the 49ers came back from the 24-point deficit to beat the Giants with a 39–38 victory. The teams met again in the 2011 NFC championship at Candlestick Park, and just like the 1990 NFC championship, it was a low-scoring game; the Giants won the game on a Lawrence Tynes 31-yard field goal in overtime, 20–17. In an eerie similarity to Roger Craig's fumble 21 years earlier, Kyle Williams fumbled a punt in the crucial minutes of the game, and just like the last two times the Giants beat the 49ers in the playoffs, they went on to win the Super Bowl.
Atlanta Falcons edit
All-time record: 47–32–1 (including 1–1 postseason)
The Atlanta Falcons were also division rivals with the 49ers until the Falcons moved to the NFC South in 2002 after the realignment. Just like the Saints, the 49ers had dominated the Falcons when they played in the NFC West, but the Falcons won their first four games (spanning nine seasons) against the 49ers since moving to the NFC South. Both teams met in the divisional round of the 1998 playoffs. Garrison Hearst suffered an ankle break after his foot was caught in the Georgia Dome turf and twisted severely as he tried to spin away from Falcons' defensive end Chuck Smith on the first play from scrimmage; the 49ers lost that game 20–18. They met in the 2012 NFC championship, in which the 49ers, led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick, defeated the top-seeded Falcons in Atlanta by a score of 28–24. The next year, the Falcons played against the 49ers in the final home game at Candlestick Park ever. The game ended in a dramatic interception return for a touchdown by 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman, known as "The Pick at the 'Stick".[20][21]
Las Vegas Raiders edit
The Las Vegas Raiders were the 49ers' geographic rivals when the Raiders were located in Oakland. As a result, games between the two were referred to as the "Battle of the Bay."[22] The first exhibition game played in 1967, ended with the NFL 49ers defeating the AFL Raiders 13–10. After the 1970 merger, the 49ers won in Oakland 38–7. The rivalry still remained heated when the Raiders moved to Los Angeles, leaving many Raider fans in Northern California bitter over the move, and some of them becoming 49er fans, added with the antagonism between Northern and Southern California. The Raiders notably upset the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers in San Francisco in 1982, winning 23–17. Since the two teams play in different conferences, regular-season matchups are at least every four years. In addition, both teams have shared a number of players, most notably Jim Plunkett, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Michael Crabtree, Tom Rathman, and Charlie Garner.
The Battle of the Bay ended tied 7–7. San Francisco won the last matchup 34–3 on November 1, 2018.
On August 20, 2011, in the third week of the pre-season, the pre-season game between the rivals was marked by fights in restrooms and stands at Candlestick Park including a shooting outside the stadium in which several were injured. The NFL decided to cancel all future pre-season games between the Raiders and 49ers.
Cleveland Browns edit
In the AAFC, the only other competitive team other than the 49ers was the Cleveland Browns, who they played twice each of the four years the league was in service; Cleveland lost just four games in the AAFC, and San Francisco was responsible for two of them, including the one that broke a 29-game streak where Cleveland did not lose a game. The final game in AAFC history matched the two for the AAFC Championship, which Cleveland won 21-7. The rivalry did not last into the NFL years, particularly after the teams were placed in opposite conferences in 1970. The rivalry has turned into a friendly relationship as many 49ers personnel helped the Browns relaunch in 1999, specifically former 49ers president and CEO Carmen Policy and vice president/director of football operations Dwight Clark, who were hired by the expansion Browns in the same roles. In addition, 49ers owners John York and Denise DeBartolo York reside in Youngstown, 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Cleveland. Long-time Browns placekicker and fan favorite Phil Dawson and backup quarterback Colt McCoy signed with the 49ers in 2014.
Season-by-season records edit
This is a partial list of the 49ers' last five completed seasons. For the full season-by-season franchise results, see List of San Francisco 49ers seasons.
| Super Bowl champions† | Conference champions* | Division champions^ | Wild Card berth# | One-game playoff berth+ |
As of February 12, 2021[update]
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | |||||||
| 2016 | 2016 | NFL | NFC | West | 4th | 2 | 14 | 0 | – | – |
| 2017 | 2017 | NFL | NFC | West | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | – | – |
| 2018 | 2018 | NFL | NFC | West | 3rd | 4 | 12 | 0 | – | – |
| 2019 | 2019 | NFL | NFC* | West^ | 1st^ | 13 | 3 | 0 | Won Divisional Playoffs (Vikings) 27–10 Won NFC Championship (Packers) 37–20 Lost Super Bowl LIV (vs. Chiefs) 31–20 |
Nick Bosa (DROY) |
| 2020 | 2020 | NFL | NFC | West | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | – | – |
Players of note edit
Current roster edit
- ^ Jacobs, Martin (2005). San Francisco 49ers. Arcadia Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 9780738529660.
- ^ "Supe's On: San Francisco 49ers Uniform History › Uni Watch". Uni Watch. February 1, 2020. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ Price, Taylor (April 25, 2009). "49ers Unveil Classic Uniforms". 49ers.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ Price, Taylor (April 3, 2012). "Morning Tailgate: Uniform Edition (April 3)". 49ers.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
- ^ Hanzus, Dan (May 1, 2015). "49ers unveil first alternate uniform in team history". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ "RGB". 49ers.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. April 30, 2015. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ "Gold Rush". 49ers.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ Goldberg, Leslie (December 28, 1983). "More Than Just Rah Rah". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. EE2. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NFL cheerleader kneels for US anthem". BBC News. November 2, 2018. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- ^ Bekiempis, Victoria (November 2, 2018). "Woman becomes first NFL cheerleader to take a knee during national anthem". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- ^ "Sourdough's Fun Facts". 49ers.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ "Archived copy". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Top 10 NFL Rivalries of All Time". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
- ^ Craig (2004) 37
- ^ Knapp, Gwen (October 4, 2009). "49ers must beat Rams". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2009.
- ^ "San Francisco 49ers Playoff History". pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- ^ "Adrian Wilson vs Vernon Davis; ROTB Announcement". Revengeofthebirds.com. May 11, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
- ^ 49ers–Cardinals pre-game notes: Lombardi says Harbaugh looks headed for Michigan; 49ers Hot Read Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, mercurynews.com, January 2, 2011; accessed November 27, 2014.
- ^ NFL 1993 Post-season Schedule Archived May 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine NFL.com; Retrieved 6 May 2019
- ^ Fann, Joe (June 4, 2019). "NaVorro Bowman Retires from NFL as a Member of the 49ers". 49ers.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ "49ers Announce 2015 Schedule". April 21, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- ^ "49ers And Raiders Stagger Into Battle". KGO-TV. Associated Press. October 7, 2006. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2007.