Are the 49ers a top five franchise in NFL history?

This is a really stupid question. Are the 49ers a top 5 team in NFL history? They have the second most super bowl wins in the league and the best super bowl winning % of any teams that have been there more than once. The only reasonable question is "Are the 49ers the most successful franchise in the super bowl era?"

It's a relevant question open for debate. However, most fans below 40 years of age are caught up in the present era. The Browns of the 50's, Packers of the 60's, Steelers of the 70's and yes the 49ers of the 80's are from bygone eras. For most of these teams you have to be in your 60's or 70's to remember their achievements. I remember the mid 50's but my father used to lecture me on Sammy Baugh and Sid Luckman from the 1930's and 40's and I would tell him to live in the present. I guess football is a game of the present, where stats can't be compared era to era. Unlike baseball where stats transcend the eras. For instance everyone knows the 27 Yankees, but how much can one know about the 1952 49ers. Are the 49ers a top franchise? Definitely.

I believe Niners were first to win 5. They were Undefeated in SB--only team with 5 rings/no losses. That said a lot!!

In my not-so-humble opinion, were number 1 until Harbone let Roman call 4 stupid pass plays in a row!!! Now we're just sitting at 3 or 4 (for now).

Undoubtably we are a top 5 NFL franchise all time. We have 5 Lombardi trophies 2nd only to PIT and we have the GOAT head coach (Bill Walsh - innovated modern day WCO, short passing game to set up the run, and prescribed first 15 plays), GOAT QB (Montana won 4 Super Bowls with no INTs), and GOAT WR (Jerry Rice is the GOAT NFL player period). Aside from that Eddie DeBartolo redefined the owner/player relationship and our run of dominance yielded a streak of 16 seasons with 10 wins or more. We became THE model franchise of the 80s and arguably the 90s and the Bill Walsh tree proliferated league wide and his philosophies became religion.

1. Packers
2. Cowboys
3. 49ers
4. Steelers
5. Giants

1. Yankees
2. Giants
3. Dodgers
4. Cardinals
5. Red Sox

Originally posted by Niners99:
1. Packers
2. Cowboys
3. 49ers
4. Steelers
5. Giants

1. Yankees
2. Giants
3. Dodgers
4. Cardinals
5. Red Sox

Why do you put the Giants and Dodgers over the Cardinals?

b***h please the 9ers are the #1 franchise in history. Montana = 10x the QB Bradshaw was and don't get me started on the Cowpies. Aikmen in the same sentence as our hall of famers is a joke. Walsh is the greatest and most innovative coach of all time f**k yeah this franchise is the best. Top 5? really? s**t Lombardi and the Packers are about the only other franchise I would even consider as legendary as ours. You got to have the superbowl trophy named after you to even compete with us.

Harbaugh and Kap are icing on this legendary cake.

We're so better then Dallas guess u forgot we sent America's team home N went on to tha first of many Superbowls ...

Yes we are, people also forget a very IMPORTANT stat, (after that GB game) we're tied with the Steelers for most home playoff wins in ALL of NFL history (including our sole win at Kezar against the New York Yankees, before the merger, in 1949).

The late Jerry Jones era has sullied the Cowboys legacy. They've also lost more super bowls than the other teams on the list. I also think the community-ownership group of the Packers sets them apart from the pack.

Packers
Steelers
49ers
Cowboys
Giants
Bears
Patriots

Originally posted by GNielsen:

Originally posted by pdizo916:

Do you watch basketball? I'm having a hard time figuring that list


1 lakers
2 celtics
3 bulls
4 sixers?????????//
5 san antonio?

I'm totally with you on Lakers, Celtics and Bulls, but I just don't know who goes on the list after that. I don't know enough about NBA history.

WARRIORS!!!

But for real:
1. Celtics
2. Lakers
3. Bulls
.
.
.
everyone else

IMO Dallas has fallen off the radar, and should be replaced with the Pats. They are basically living off the 1990's Cowboys run, without that they would only have 2 super bowls, and the majority of their history would be as a losing/subpar team. None of their quaterbacks are top 5, imo. Emitt was a good back but he also had a BEAST offensive line. Playmaker is the only guy I would say is top 5 at his position. That team was basically Jimmy's brainchild and once he left they got lucky and won one more. They make a lot of money has a franchise, but only because their fans are stuck in the 90s.

As far as footbal - I think we're definitely in the mix. The exact criteria hasn't been lai out so it's all subjective.

As far as other sports; there isn't any question about it - "The Yankees" hands doen the #1 sports franchise Love 'em or Hate 'em - they are on top of the heap. We're also talking net worth, over 2 Billion.

Originally posted by pdizo916:
True; however, I'm trying to factor in the pre superbowl era. It may be hard to do though....

It doesn't make much sense to try and do that because pre-merger many current teams didn't exist or were not part of the NFL yet and football was in its infancy.

The Bears are one of two teams that have been in the NFL since the NFL has existed (1919), the Packers since 1921, and the Steelers since 1933. During this time it was a totally different game (the forward pass was a gimmick play). They played with a rugby ball and still used the "drop kick".

The 9ers didn't join the NFL until 1950 and the Cowboys until 1960. Just when the game started to look somewhat like the modern game of the last 30-40 years..

Let's not give the Bears too much credit for winning championships when the league consisted of about 10 teams. Couldn't have been that difficult to accumulate titles in such a shallow field.