What was the worst moment in franchise history?

I have to agree. It was when Eddie D had to give up the team. The team went down hill from there. Damn it!

Originally posted by HessianDud:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Didn't Eddie D have to step away? IIRC correctly...didn't he have some heat from gambling allegations or some s**t?

Yeah some folks I guess choose not to remember that it was his own fault that he got into hot water. I blame him for being involved with shady s**t, he is the single most responsible person that the team went to crap. I like the guy and really appreciate what he did for the team through the years, but he let us fans down by forcing himself out of the game.

whatever the reason, its still one of the dark moments in this franchise's history. The distinction between him being forced to give up the team because of his own misdeeds and choosing to give it up is immaterial, IMO.

To piggyback on this, who's to say that he would have been successful during the salary cap era. His generosity with his players would have come under scrutiny. Besides the friction with Carmen policy would've eventually caused a major rift in the organization. The start of the slide was when friction between Debartolo and Walsh developed which led to Walsh's premature retirement. Walsh being the the de-facto general manager (he was at one time team president) had a no-nonsense approach to replacing players and Eddie's personal relationship with the players eventually caused a rift between these organizational behemoths. If anything, stripping Walsh of the the team president title (which also tied his hands with personnel decisions), it was Eddie D who caused the downward spiral of the organization. In defense of Eddie D he was the reason the team reached the pinnacle in the 80's and I believe he's also learned from his mistakes when he rehired Walsh to run the organization during his legal problems. If it's any consolation, we do not have Jerry Jones as our owner and if Eddie D continues to mentor Jed we may just get back to where we used to be.

When Eddie lost control of the team and nothing else comes even close. Almost all of the other bad moments affected only one season. Eddie leaving the franchise has haunted this organization for over a decade with no end in sight. This franchise went from envy of the league to a laughing stalk the day he gave up control and will continue to be a laughing stalk unless there is ownership change.

Originally posted by Ancient9r:

Originally posted by HessianDud:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:
Didn't Eddie D have to step away? IIRC correctly...didn't he have some heat from gambling allegations or some s**t?

Yeah some folks I guess choose not to remember that it was his own fault that he got into hot water. I blame him for being involved with shady s**t, he is the single most responsible person that the team went to crap. I like the guy and really appreciate what he did for the team through the years, but he let us fans down by forcing himself out of the game.

whatever the reason, its still one of the dark moments in this franchise's history. The distinction between him being forced to give up the team because of his own misdeeds and choosing to give it up is immaterial, IMO.

To piggyback on this, who's to say that he would have been successful during the salary cap era. His generosity with his players would have come under scrutiny. Besides the friction with Carmen policy would've eventually caused a major rift in the organization. The start of the slide was when friction between Debartolo and Walsh developed which led to Walsh's premature retirement. Walsh being the the de-facto general manager (he was at one time team president) had a no-nonsense approach to replacing players and Eddie's personal relationship with the players eventually caused a rift between these organizational behemoths. If anything, stripping Walsh of the the team president title (which also tied his hands with personnel decisions), it was Eddie D who caused the downward spiral of the organization. In defense of Eddie D he was the reason the team reached the pinnacle in the 80's and I believe he's also learned from his mistakes when he rehired Walsh to run the organization during his legal problems. If it's any consolation, we do not have Jerry Jones as our owner and if Eddie D continues to mentor Jed we may just get back to where we used to be.

If Walsh wasn't stripped of that, then Harbaugh may have never coached Stanford and would have never been our coach.

Originally posted by Joecool:
If Walsh wasn't stripped of that, then Harbaugh may have never coached Stanford and would have never been our coach.

I'm not ready to anoint him the saviour just yet. I do like the Baalkes approach to the business. We kind of get too attached to players we perceive as good and refuse to accept that player being let go in spite of that players demands (Lawson, Franklin and even the suggestions of some of retaining Clemens because he's the "best" of our corners). If Frank doesn't allow a compromise, I expect him to be traded prior to the start of the season. I've seen my team go from mediocre to outstanding and back to mediocre, but maintain a positive belief that the cycle will bring us back to greatness, that's what makes us fans of such an amazing sport.

Originally posted by MSteitz468:
Joe Thomas years.

Absolutely agree! Joe Thomas tore this franchise apart. I remember him throwing out memorbilia from the early years, because "it wasn't revelant" to the times. What an ahole, the worst eved, no doubt!

Originally posted by Ancient9r:
I'm not ready to anoint him the saviour just yet. I do like the Baalkes approach to the business. We kind of get too attached to players we perceive as good and refuse to accept that player being let go in spite of that players demands (Lawson, Franklin and even the suggestions of some of retaining Clemens because he's the "best" of our corners). If Frank doesn't allow a compromise, I expect him to be traded prior to the start of the season. I've seen my team go from mediocre to outstanding and back to mediocre, but maintain a positive belief that the cycle will bring us back to greatness, that's what makes us fans of such an amazing sport.

Hiring Trent and not looking for other qualified candidates. Not developing younger players.

The shooting in the parking lot must be up there. That has put a major damper on the season for me.

When we started playing Melissa Etheridge's "Come To My Window" at the Stick during the end of blow-outs in the early 90s.

YORKIES take over franchise. All down hill from there in every aspect.

Craigs fumble. Need I say more?

Once Eddie gave Denise the 49ers stands out to me the most but a case could be made about the 1990 NFC championship game against the Giants because not only did they kill our chance at a 3-peat but our dynasty wasn't the same. The niners won in '94 but look at how we weren't the same against teams like the Packers and Cowboys, the 90's the 49ers lost that feel they had in the 80's where they were almost undisputed locks to win it all,in the 90's they became another contender. That loss changed the niners with Montana getting hurt, losing Craig and Lott but I think tomorrow's game is a chance at redemption for the niners 20 years after that heartbreak they get a chance to return home against the team that ended that era of the 49ers and create a new era.

tonight