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.
Frederick Rudolph Dean was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time first-team All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowler, he won two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
Bryant Colby Young is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). A first-round draft pick out of University of Notre Dame, Young was nominated for the 2019 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, eventually being elected in 2022.
Rubin Andre Carter is an American football coach recently for Louisiana State University and former player in the National Football League (NFL). A defensive end, he played college football for the University of California, and was a unanimous All-American. The San Francisco 49ers selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, and he also played for the Washington Redskins, New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders.
Michael Singletary, also known by his nickname "Samurai Mike", is an American professional football coach and former middle linebacker. After playing college football for the Baylor Bears, Singletary was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft and was known as "The Heart of the Defense" for the Chicago Bears' Monsters of the Midway 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.
Michael Tullis Nolan is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). Nolan previously served as a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for the National Football League (NFL)'s Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, and Dallas Cowboys. Nolan is a former linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, and New Orleans Saints.
Jeffrey Marc Zgonina is an American football defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders and former defensive tackle who played seventeen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 1993 NFL Draft.
Timothy McDonald is a former college and professional American football player who was a strong safety in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. McDonald played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was honored as a two-time All-American and two-time team MVP. A second-round pick in the 1987 NFL Draft, McDonald played professionally for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1987-1992) and San Francisco 49ers (1993-1999) of the NFL. Upon the conclusion of his playing career, McDonald entered coaching, most recently serving as the defensive backs coach for the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills.
Lance A. Schulters is an American football coach and a former American football safety. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hofstra.
Patrick L. Willis is an American former professional football player who spent his entire eight-year career as a middle 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 and received consensus All-American honors.
Theodore John Cottrell is an American football coach and former player. He was formerly the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, and the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2009, he served as head coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League (UFL). Ten years later, he was the linebackers coach for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), and worked as the defensive coordinator for the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL in 2020.
Cedrick Ward Hardman was an American Football defensive end who played 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.
Alfred Carl Harris is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive end and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for Arizona State University, and earned All-American honors. He was a first-round pick in the 1979 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.
Steven Bernard Wilks is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He has also been the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers, and the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns and Missouri.
James Andrew Tomsula is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Rhein Fire of the European League of Football (ELF). Serving as a defensive coach throughout his career, Tomsula has also been the head coach for the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe and the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Tomsula was born and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Homestead. Attending Catawba College, he played defensive end from 1987 to 1990, after transferring from Middle Tennessee State University after the 1986 season. At Catawba College, Tomsula made 109 tackles in two seasons.
Anthony Earl Oden is an American football coach and former player who is the senior defensive assistant and cornerbacks coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans. Oden played college football at Baldwin–Wallace College.
David Merritt is an American football coach for the Kansas City Chiefs for the National Football League (NFL) and former linebacker who served as the defensive backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at North Carolina State.
Eric Anthony Mangini, also known as "the Mangenius", is a former American football coach and current television sports analyst. Mangini had been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2013 and served as the team's tight ends coach for two seasons before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2015, only to be fired in 2016 by new head coach Chip Kelly.
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 every year; instead, they play once every three years due to the NFL's rotating division schedules, or if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions, they would play the ensuing season. 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.
Robert Saleh is an American football coach who is the head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). A defensive coach for much of his 20-year coaching career, Saleh has served as an assistant coach for the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, and San Francisco 49ers from 2005 to 2020, holding his first defensive coordinator position with the Niners from 2017 to 2020. Saleh has appeared in two Super Bowls, one each with the Seahawks and 49ers, winning one in 2014 with the Seahawks. Following the 2020 season, he left the 49ers to become the Jets' head coach.
