William Ernest Walsh was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons.
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play their home games at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, located 38 miles (61 km) southeast of San Francisco. The team is named after the prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush.
Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1981 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals by the score of 26–21 to win their first Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1984 season. The 49ers defeated the Dolphins by the score of 38–16, to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 20, 1985, at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, the first Super Bowl played in the San Francisco Bay Area. This also became the second Super Bowl after Super Bowl XIV where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants.
Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1989 season. The game was played on January 28, 1990, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 49ers defeated the Broncos by the score of 55–10, winning their second consecutive Super Bowl, and then-tying the Pittsburgh Steelers with four Super Bowl victories. San Francisco also became the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls with two different head coaches; rookie head coach George Seifert took over after Bill Walsh retired following the previous season's Super Bowl.
Ronald Mandel Lott is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons from 1981 to 1994.
Michael Singletary, nicknamed "Samurai Mike", is an American former football player and coach. He played as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Baylor Bears, Singletary was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft and was known as "the Heart of the Defense" for their Monsters of the Midway defense in the mid-1980s. He was part of their Super Bowl XX championship team that beat the New England Patriots. Singletary was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
Kenneth Howard Norton Jr. is an American football coach and former player who is the linebackers coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1988 NFL draft. Norton won three Super Bowls during his playing career with the Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers and became coach in 2004, later serving as a defensive coordinator with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. He is the son of former world champion heavyweight boxer Ken Norton.
Dwight Hicks is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the San Francisco 49ers. He won two Super Bowls with the 49ers while earning four Pro Bowl selections.
Charles B. Studley is a former American football coach. He served as head coach at University of Cincinnati from 1961 to 1966 and interim head coach of the Houston Oilers in 1983. Studley finished with a 2–8 record in his only job as an NFL head coach.
Patrick L. Willis is an American former professional football player who spent his entire eight-year Hall of Fame career as a linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the 49ers in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft. He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels, earning consensus All-American honors in 2006.
Johnny Ray Holland is an American professional football coach and former player who is the linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Holland played in the NFL as a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers from 1987 to 1993. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
Bill Davis is an American football coach who is the linebackers coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL).
Matthew Wilhelm is a former American college and professional football player and a current radio/TV football analyst.
James Michael LeClair was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a linebacker for 12 seasons, from 1972 to 1983, in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cincinnati Bengals and two seasons, from 1984 to 1985, in the United States Football League (USFL) with the New Jersey Generals. LeClair played college football at University of Minnesota Crookston and the University of North Dakota. He served as the head football coach at Mayville State University in Mayville, North Dakota, from 1986 to 1988. LeClair was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1999.
Cedrick Ward Hardman was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the National Football League (NFL)'s San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders and the United States Football League (USFL)'s Oakland Invaders. Hardman's thirteen-year professional football career lasted from 1970 to 1981 in the NFL and ended as a player/coach in 1983 with the Invaders. Hardman held the record for most sacks in a season for the 49ers recording 18 sacks in only 14 games during his 1971 Pro Bowl season with the 49ers until 2012, when it was broken by Aldon Smith with 19.5.
Milton Bird McColl is an American physician and former football linebacker. He played college football at Stanford University and in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1988, during which he played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1981 to 1987 and Los Angeles Raiders in 1988. With the 49ers, McColl appeared in Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XIX. He is the son of former Stanford and NFL end Bill McColl.
Michael Wilhoite is an American football coach and former linebacker who is currently the outside linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washburn University where he played six different positions, including linebacker and safety. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League (UFL) in 2011.
The 49ers–Giants rivalry is an American football rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. It is one of the great inter-division rivalry games in the National Football League (NFL). The two teams do not play each other every year; instead, they play at least once every three years and at least once every six seasons at each team's home stadium, sometimes more often if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions or meet in the playoffs. Since 1982, the 49ers and Giants have met eight times in the postseason, tied for the most times two teams have met in the playoffs in the NFL since that time.
Milton Jackson was an American football coach for 26 seasons. He had different coaching positions for the California Golden Bears, Oregon Ducks, UCLA Bruins, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Oilers, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, and Baltimore Ravens. Also, he was drafted in the 7th round (170), by the San Francisco 49ers but did not play for them. Instead, he played for the San Jose Apaches, and Sacramento Capitols.
