Y.A. Tittle Leadership Era
The Team of the Eighties
The San Francisco 49ers are an American football team based in San Francisco. They were the first major league professional sports teams to be based in San Francisco and one of the first professional sports teams based on the West Coast of the United States.
Quick Facts
- Tenure
- 1951–1960
- Position
- Quarterback
- Major award
- NFL MVP (1963) with New York Giants
- Hall of fame
- Inducted 1971
- Coach
- Red Hickey
- Stadium
- Kezar Stadium
Lore & Background
The 49ers have won five NFL championships – all Super Bowls. They were the first team to win five Super Bowls (Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX). They are considered 'The Team of the Eighties', winning four Super Bowls in the decade. Prior to the 1980s, the 49ers had never won an NFL championship (they did not even win a division title until 1970). During the 1980s, they failed to make the playoffs only twice—in 1980, and again in the strike-shortened 1982 season which saw them go 0–5 at home and 3–1 on the road—the only time in NFL history that a team went winless at home while winning more than half its away games in the same season.
Reader's Guide
The 49ers entered professional football in 1946 as a member of the All-America Football Conference. They were founded by lumber magnate Tony Morabito, together with Allen E. Sorrell and Ernest J. Turre. The team's name came from the California Gold Rush gold-seekers who came to the San Francisco Bay Area, especially throughout 1849. They were granted admission to the NFL in 1950 along with the Cleveland Browns and the first Baltimore Colts. Quarterback Y. A. Tittle played for the 49ers in the 1950s, notably throwing the 'Alley Oop' pass to R. C. Owens in 1957.
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