1955 San Francisco 49ers season

Last updated

1955 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner Tony Morabito
General manager Louis Spadia
Head coach Red Strader
Home stadium Kezar Stadium
Results
Record4–8
Division place5th NFL Western
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Shows the period uniform the team would have been seen in 49ers55 57.png
Shows the period uniform the team would have been seen in

The 1955 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League and their 10th overall.

Contents

They were coming off a 7–4–1 record in 1954, finishing in 3rd place in the Western Conference.

San Francisco replaced head coach Buck Shaw, who had been the club's only head coach since its founding. The new coach was Red Strader, who had previously been the head coach of the New York Yanks from 1950 to 1951, where he had a record of 8–14–2 in his two seasons there.

The 49ers started the year with 2 losses at home but rebounded with 2 road victories and sat with a .500 record after 4 games. San Francisco split its next 2 games at home and had a 3–3 record. The team then fell into a slump and lost its next 5 games before winning its final game of the season, finishing with a 4–8 record, its worst season since the team's first season in the NFL in 1950, when it finished 3–9.

Offensively, Y. A. Tittle threw for 2185 yards, completing 51.2% of his passes, and had a league-high 17 touchdown passes. However, Tittle had 28 passes that were intercepted. Billy Wilson was Tittle's favorite target, as he had a team-high 53 receptions for 831 yards and 7 touchdowns. Joe Perry led the club by rushing for 701 yards, while Dickie Moegle rushed for a team-high 5 touchdowns.

Offseason

NFL draft

1955 San Francisco 49ers draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
1 10 Dicky Moegle  *  Defensive back Rice
221 Frank Morze   Center Boston College began play with 49ers in 1957.
334 Carroll Hardy   Halfback Colorado
445 Matt Hazeltine  *  Linebacker California
558 Eldred Kraemer   Guard Pittsburgh
669 Bobby Luna  Defensive back Alabama
782Johnny Dean  Back VPI
893 Freddie Meyers  Back Oklahoma A&M
9106Fred Preziosio  Tackle Purdue
10117Ron Ashbacker  End Oregon State
11130Rudy Rotella End Omaha
12141 Lou Palatella  GuardPittsburgh
13154 Richie Gaskell  End George Washington
14165Nick McKeithan Back Duke
15178 Burdette Hess  Guard Idaho signed with Calgary Stampeders (WIFU)
16189Jim Hall End Auburn
17202Bob Newton Guard San Diego State
18213Ron Pheister Center Oregon
19226John Garzoli TackleCalifornia
20237Glen Dyer Back Texas
21250 George Maderos  Defensive back Chico State
22261Pete Vann  Quarterback Army
23274Tom Gunnari End Washington State
24285Bob Heaston Guard Cal Poly
25298 Dewey Wade  End Kansas State
26309Johnny Kerr EndPurdue
27322Dick Shockey Back Marquette
28333Don Sanders Back Stanford
29346 Otto Kneidinger  Tackle Penn State
30356Bob Gongola Back Illinois
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career
Source: [1]

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1955 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Chief of Offense / Offensive Coordinator - Red Hickey
Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • None - N/A


Roster

1955 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs


Special teams

Reserve lists
  • Vacant

rookies in italics

Source:

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 25 Los Angeles Rams L 14–230–1Kezar Stadium58,772 Recap
2October 2 Cleveland Browns L 3–380–2Kezar Stadium43,595 Recap
3October 9at Chicago Bears W 20–191–2 Wrigley Field 41,651 Recap
4October 16at Detroit Lions W 27–242–2 Briggs Stadium 50,179 Recap
5October 23Chicago BearsL 23–342–3Kezar Stadium56,350 Recap
6October 30Detroit LionsW 38–213–3Kezar Stadium44,831 Recap
7November 6at Los Angeles RamsL 14–273–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 71,832 Recap
8November 13at Washington Redskins L 0–73–5 Griffith Stadium 25,112 Recap
9November 20at Green Bay Packers L 21–273–6 Milwaukee County Stadium 19,099 Recap
10November 27 Baltimore Colts L 14–263–7 Memorial Stadium 33,485 Recap
11December 4Green Bay PackersL 7–283–8Kezar Stadium32,897 Recap
12December 11Baltimore ColtsW 35–244–8Kezar Stadium33,471 Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
WLTPCTCONFPFPASTK
Los Angeles Rams 831.7276–3–1260231W3
Chicago Bears 840.6677–3294251W2
Green Bay Packers 660.5005–5258276L1
Baltimore Colts 561.4555–4–1214239L2
San Francisco 49ers 480.3334–6216298W1
Detroit Lions 390.2502–8230275L2
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Eastern Conference
WLTPCTCONFPFPASTK
Cleveland Browns 921.8187–2–1349218W2
Washington Redskins 840.6676–4246222W1
New York Giants 651.5454–5–1267223W2
Philadelphia Eagles 471.3644–5–1248231L1
Chicago Cardinals 471.3643–6–1224252L2
Pittsburgh Steelers 480.3334–6195285L7
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

  1. "1955 San Francisco 49ers Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2024.