Five Things You May Not Know About the San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most popular franchises in the National Football League.  They have earned this spot by not only being a successful franchise, but also by playing in some of the most important games in league history, and having some of the best players of all time appear at one time or another on their roster.  The 49ers came onto the pro football scene in 1946 as a member of the now-defunct All American Football Conference and didn't have a below .500 season until their fifth year of existence.  Even that was a blip on the radar as they returned to their winning ways the very next season.  There is a great deal known about this, one of the most famous teams in professional sports, but here are five things you may not know about the San Francisco 49ers.

1.  From 1977 to 1983, covering seven full NFL seasons, the 49ers had seven consecutive different running backs lead the team in rushing:  Delvin Williams, O.J. Simpson, Paul Hofer, Earl Cooper, Ricky Patton, Jeff Moore, and Wendell Tyler.

2.  Bill Walsh was the innovator that brought the "west coast offense" to the San Francisco 49ers, he is known by the nickname of "The Genius", he is regarded as one of the best NFL head coaches of all time, and he is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Because of all this, it surprises many people when they find out that the winningest head coach in San Francisco 49ers history is not Bill Walsh, it is the man that immediately followed him, George Seifert owns that team record.  Bill Walsh coached the team to 92 victories over his ten years with the team, while George Seifert coached them to 98 victories over his eight years as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

3.  Though one of the most successful teams in NFL history, when the San Francisco 49ers started as a franchise they were actually members of the All American Football Conference, an early competitor of the National Football League.

4.  Before the 1978 season, the San Francisco 49ers traded their first round pick for the next season to the Buffalo Bills for aging running back O.J. Simpson.  The 49ers would go on to have the worst record in the league, making the draft pick they traded to the Bills the number one overall pick in the 1979 NFL Draft.  They would select Ohio State linebacker Tom Cousineau who would reject signing with the Bills and instead choose to go to the Canadian Football League.  When Cousineau wanted to return to the NFL, the Bills traded his rights to the Cleveland Browns for a first round draft pick that ended up being future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly.

5.  Before the 1991 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers redesigned the logo that would go on the sides of the team's helmets.  The logo was to be a block letter design of the team name "49ers" with a shadow effect.  Upon releasing it to the public, fan reaction was so poor that the plans for the new logo were cancelled the very next day.

There are few teams, especially football teams, that can hold a candle to both the success and popularity of the San Francisco 49ers.  The team achieved this level of success thanks to the contributions of players like Y.A. Tittle, Joe Perry, Hugh McElhenny, John Brodie, Gene Washington, Steve DeBerg, Freddie Solomon, Dwight Clark, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Steve Young, and Terrell Owens.  The team has also had the luxury of having some of the truly most intelligent and innovative coaches in league history including Buck Shaw, Bill Walsh, George Seifert, and Steve Mariucci.  The combination of these great players being coached by these great coaches is what raised this team to achieve some of the truly special things that they were able to accomplish.  The 49ers are one of the most popular teams in the league and there is nothing in the future to indicate that they are going to lose that popularity anytime soon.

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