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 XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1988 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals 20–16, winning their third Super Bowl. The game was played on January 22, 1989, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held at the Orange Bowl.
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.
Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", Montana is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. After winning a national championship at Notre Dame, Montana began his NFL career in 1979 at San Francisco, where he played for the next 14 seasons. With the 49ers, Montana started and won four Super Bowls and was the first player to be named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times. He also holds Super Bowl career records for most passes without an interception and the all-time highest passer rating of 127.8. In 1993, Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played for his last two seasons and led the franchise to its first AFC Championship Game. Montana was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Jon Steven Young is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, most notably with the San Francisco 49ers. He was drafted by and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to his NFL career, Young was a member of the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. He played college football for the BYU Cougars, setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
Jerry Lee Rice is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter stints at the end of his career with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. Nicknamed "World" because of his superb catching ability, his accomplishments and numerous records, Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history. His biography on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame website names him "the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history with staggering career totals". In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players". In 2010, he was chosen by NFL Network's NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the greatest player in NFL history.
Roger Timothy Craig is an American former football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. Craig went to four Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowls with the 49ers. Craig was the first NFL player to have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. Marshall Faulk and Christian McCaffrey are the only other players to have accomplished that feat. He currently works as the VP of Business Development at TIBCO Software.
Brent Michael Jones is an American former professional football player, business executive, businessman, coach, and sports analyst. As a player, he was a tight end for the San Francisco 49ers during his entire 11-year career in the National Football League (NFL) from 1987 to 1997. Jones is listed among the top players in franchise history, and helped revolutionize the concept of the pass-catching tight end.
Gregory Alan Lewis Jr. is an American football coach and former player. He is the wide receivers coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played wide receiver in the NFL for eight seasons. After playing college football for Illinois, he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played for the Eagles for six seasons from 2003 to 2008 and the Minnesota Vikings for two seasons from 2009 to 2010. Lewis has served as assistant coach for the University of San Diego, San Jose State, Pittsburgh Panthers, Eagles, and Chiefs.
Lonnie Alexander "Lon" Simmons was an American sports announcer, best known for his play-by-play broadcasts of San Francisco Giants baseball and San Francisco 49ers football.
Shaun Christopher Hill is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins. Hill was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He also played for the Amsterdam Admirals, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and St. Louis Rams.
Steven Christopher Bono is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. He played for seven different teams in 15 different seasons, spending the most time with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Anthonia Wayne "Amp" Lee is an American former professional football player who was a running back for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning first-team All-American honors in 1991. After his playing career, he was a running back coach in NFL Europe and the United Football League.
The 1994 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 45th in the National Football League (NFL), their 49th overall, and their sixth under head coach George Seifert. This season was highlighted by a victory in Super Bowl XXIX. The championship made San Francisco the first team to win five Super Bowls. After losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the previous two conference championship games, the 49ers made significant acquisitions in the 1994 free agent market. This included the signing of two-sport star Deion Sanders and Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. Sanders had a major impact on the team's success, winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and recording six interceptions. The 49ers won their division, the NFC West, for the eighth time in nine seasons.
The 1989 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 40th in the National Football League (NFL), their 44th overall and their 1st season under head coach George Seifert. After going 14–2 in the regular season, the 49ers completed the season with one of the most dominant playoff runs of all time, outscoring opponents 126–26, earning their fourth Super Bowl victory and their second consecutive, where they defeated the Broncos, 55–10. They finished with the best record in the NFL for the first time since 1987. Their two losses were by a combined 5 points.
The 1988 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 39th in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd overall, and their tenth and final season under head coach Bill Walsh. The season was highlighted by their third Super Bowl victory. They failed to improve on their 13–2 record from 1987, and the 49ers struggled to a 6–5 record at the midway point and were in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1982, but rose to defeat the Washington Redskins on a Monday night, eventually finishing the season at 10–6. They gained a measure of revenge by thrashing the Minnesota Vikings 34–9 in the first round of the playoffs; the Vikings had upset the #1-seeded 49ers the previous season in the divisional round. The 49ers then traveled to Chicago's Soldier Field, where the wind-chill factor at game time was 26 degrees below zero. They defeated the Chicago Bears 28–3 in the NFC Championship game.
The 1984 San Francisco 49ers season was their 39th season in the National Football League (NFL). The season was highlighted by their second Super Bowl victory. The franchise had its best season ever, with a record of 15 wins and only 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Joe Montana would be awarded the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player Award for the second time in his career, joining Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw as the only two-time Super Bowl MVPs.
The 1987 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 38th season in the National Football League and their 42nd overall. The 49ers won the division for the second consecutive season, and ended the season as the top seed in the NFC playoffs. The season ended with an upset loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The 1983 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League and their 38th overall. The team attempted to improve on its 3–6 record from 1982. The 49ers started the season with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, 22–17. However, the 49ers throttled the Vikings the next week 48–17 and then the Cardinals the following week 42–27. They ended the first half of the season 6–2 before splitting their last eight games to finish the season 10–6 and clinching the NFC West and the #2 seed in the playoffs. In the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers came back to beat the Lions 24–23 after Joe Montana found Freddie Solomon in the end zone with 1:23 remaining, and Lions kicker Eddie Murray missed a 41-yard field goal as time expired. However, in the NFC Championship game, the 49ers were not able to outlast the top-seeded Redskins, as after coming back to tie a game in which they trailed 21–0 at the start of the 4th quarter, they lost 24–21 after Washington took the lead on a field goal with 40 seconds left in the game.
The 1965 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 16th season in the National Football League, their 20th overall, and their third under head coach Jack Christiansen. They improved on their 4–10 record from 1964, and finished 7–6–1. However, they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.Christiansen experienced his highest winning percentage in 1965, with a W–L% of .538.
