Originally posted by SnakePlissken:
I have some deep, yet positively funny memories about being age 19 in ole' '79, and the first Walsh/Montana triumphs.
The offense was so hard to learn that the Walsh had to draw up special flash cards for players like OJ (non-academic guys, and guys who never played under Brown, or Coryell). Despite utter miscue, you could still see Walsh was bringing something new to the NFC, and soon the NFL. The NFC at that point was all about running, and the AFC was a conference which birthed the roots of the modern passing game. Therefore, 1979 for the niners was almost 70% trick plays, I'm not joking. It was treated as a blooper reel by NFL Films, despite the fact this quirkiness would change the NFL forever. Walsh had to dial his vision back seldom to accommodate to the s**tty roster he was aptly rebuilding.
From 1979-1980 the Candlestick seats were baron throughout any game not hosting the Rams, or for instance the Chargers in preseason. My uber Italian family held a staunch distrust for Eddie D in the beginning. Somebody might have a better memory, but we weren't packing the stadium until we upset the Skins on the road in '81. The Dallas blowout got everybody on the bandwagon. You couldn't know how good Montana was until that Skins road win in '81.
Before Internet, and fame, the 1980 Saints comeback wasn't as big as we appreciate it today, the entire narrative was "Archie Chokes again!" The Tampa win in '79 was huge as well, but Joe was seen as a kicker pretending to be a QB. Funny enough, it was practical that the backup QBs played placeholder to the kickers, so Walsh used it as a means to sneak Joe into the mix!
Funny truth, Joe Montana's first touchdowns came from trick field goals. My uncle Paul called him the "secret weapon" hahaha! Although now I learned Uncle Paulie said that cause I was too young to understand the typa chaste dry jokes we make when our ream sucks! So essentially 49er fans were sarcastic a-holes before we became entitled. Lol!
Great memories, thank you. Remember when Walsh put an amplifier on Deberg's back because he had laryngitis?
And against the Jets Walsh had Deberg pretend the amplifier didn't work and he brought Montana in to run a bootleg?Lol that was funny stuff back then.
