49er dynasty players and coaches who don't get enough credit

Originally posted by Chico:
Bob McKitrick
Jesse Sapulo
Keena Turner
Eric Wright
Freddie Solomon
Charles Haley
John Taylor
Don Griffin...so many, so many...my apologies to the other guys i missed!!!

Jeff Fuller
William Floyd
Russ Francis
Keena Turner
Keith Farnhorst

Freddie Solomon had almost as much yardage yearly as Dwight Clark, a higher per catch average and was the deep threat that Clark wasn't, to me equally as important as Clark. Still for every shot of Freddie on old NFL films footage, you will see Clark 25 times. I think the catch made everyone that wasn't a 49er fan think Clark was the only big time receiver till #80 came along. I just thought of another, Carlton Williamson, even though he didn't have a high number of interceptions they usually came with the game on the line. I believe he made the Pro Bowl a few times even though his career was short. Amazing that the roster in the good ole days was so stocked with talent, players that would have been big stars on other teams, are only known by hardcore 49er fans.

[ Edited by BobS on Jul 31, 2010 at 15:16:23 ]

Originally posted by Chico:

Originally posted by Lott49ersFan:

Originally posted by BHulman:

Originally posted by crabman82:
keena turner

I would add Michael Carter and Eric Wright. Also, Seifert does not get a whole lot recognition as the D coordinator. The Niners had a top 5 defense throughout the 80s.

Eric Wright is in the HOF though. At least he did get credit for his great play.

What??? did i miss something? Eric Wright is not in the HOF!!! I mean, i wish he were but did something happen when i wasn't looking?

maybe he means eric "eazy-e" wright is in the rap HOF lol

Originally posted by eastie:

Originally posted by Chico:
Bob McKitrick
Jesse Sapulo
Keena Turner
Eric Wright
Freddie Solomon
Charles Haley
John Taylor
Don Griffin...so many, so many...my apologies to the other guys i missed!!!

Jeff Fuller
William Floyd
Russ Francis
Keena Turner
Keith Farnhorst

Guy McIntrye
Jeff Stover
Dwight Hicks
Pierce Holt
Fred Quillan
Carlton Williamson
Steve Wallace
Harris Barton
Dwaine Board

[ Edited by BHulman on Jul 31, 2010 at 18:17:17 ]

the most underrated in general for all of football is the O-line you CANNOT have a superbowl caliber team without a great O-line. nuff said

Originally posted by BobS:

Originally posted by Negrodamus:
john taylor, brent jones

I really think Taylor would have had a Hall of Fame career if he didn't have to share the ball with #80.

If Stalworth and Swann are in, then JT belongs. Period.

The people suggesting that Taylor got his numbers because of Rice, used that as an excuse with Swann and the man finally got in. So all we can do is continue to bang that drum and hope that someone finally listens. Can't believe he's not even made the finalist list.

We have more players over 2 decades who helped keep us there than any team ever had in one. I could start naming them all but I would just get myself worked up over the whole thing.

~Ceadder

Lot's of great names.. I'll add another...... George Siefert, especially in the role of Defensive Coordinator. He ran out some awfully stout defenses in the 80's.

GEORGE SIEFERT

Mike Holmgren
Mike Shanahan
Mike Walter

From me a couple of players from the first Super Bowl really deserve mention: First is Hacksaw Reynolds. I think he only played one or two years, but he was instrumental in helping instill the kind of discipline and savvy the defense needed. He made the players around him better and he taught those young players the value of study and preparation. Bill Walsh credited him for playing a big role, but fans rarely comment on him.

For the other you have to go back a couple of years. Walsh inherited a horrible team with no high draft picks (thanks to the OJ Simpson trade). His first year he shuffled players in and out so much you would have thought the Niner complex was a bus stop! Throughout the season it was common for 3 or 4 players to be cut every week and for new players to be picked up off the waiver wire. Most of them were gone too in a few weeks, but late in the year you saw the method to Walsh's madness: one of those waiver wire guys took the field and even any casual fan could see the difference. This guy simply had a presence. He was always around the ball and he made plays! But by the end of the decade he'd been replaced by one the Niners' greatest legends and so he tends to be forgotten. But Dwight Hicks really deserves some credit for all he brought to the birth of the dynasty!

[ Edited by bret on Aug 1, 2010 at 09:47:37 ]

Originally posted by BHulman:

Originally posted by eastie:

Originally posted by Chico:
Bob McKitrick
Jesse Sapulo
Keena Turner
Eric Wright
Freddie Solomon
Charles Haley
John Taylor
Don Griffin...so many, so many...my apologies to the other guys i missed!!!

Jeff Fuller
William Floyd
Russ Francis
Keena Turner
Keith Farnhorst

Guy McIntrye
Jeff Stover
Dwight Hicks
Pierce Holt
Fred Quillan
Carlton Williamson
Steve Wallace
Harris Barton
Dwaine Board

Bubba Paris

Originally posted by English:


And Policy's name is now somewhat smeared, I think. But his contribution is worth remembering.

I've got to disagree with you about Policy. Bill Walsh implemented a SYSTEM that was designed to sustain excellence. That system involved constant renewal of the roster through scouting and the draft. Knowing what KIND of talent you wanted helped lead to making fewer mistakes. Knowing what KIND of talent you wanted led to making picks in the mid and late rounds that made great contributions. Walsh wasn't freaked out by going 10-6 as long as he made the playoffs, but in going 10-6 he was developing his young talent and so the roster was constantly renewed.

Policy got caught up in thinking "we're a Dynasty Team; we have to go 14-2". But that thinking led to mortgaging the future on bringing in outside veterans who could add "one more piece" instead of renewing the roster each year with young talent. He did not have the talent evaluating skills of Walsh and he went away from the emphasis on the draft with the inevitable results: we got old and expensive and ended up "in salary cap hell" AND we had the wrong KIND of young talent coming in. Can anyone say Jim Druckenmiller?!

No, though the winning went on for a few years, the dynasty ended when Carmen Policy took over!

The last taste of success we had was when Walsh was brought back in and brought in Jeff Garcia and set us up for success again; but once again his successor thought he knew better how to win championships and the results were the same as Policy's "I know better" results had been!

Seifert & Ray Rhodes for turning three rookies and a scrub into the best defensive backfield in the NFL in 1981.

This wasn't quite from the glory years, but the Glen Coffee thread has a replay of the Garrison Hearst 96-yd overtime run against the Jets. If you look closely you'll see Dave Fiore get a good block 30 yards down field that seems to take him out of the play, but then at the end when the linebacker is closing and looks like might catch Hearst, someone gets just enough to make the tackle attempt too little, too late. Who made that block? Dave Fiore again! He was completely out of the play. But through sheer hustle and desire, he got back into it and made the play that allowed Hearst to score!

He only started for 3 years and he wasn't the most talented guy, but that play typified why he was a Niner I appreciated!

Originally posted by bret:

Originally posted by English:


And Policy's name is now somewhat smeared, I think. But his contribution is worth remembering.

I've got to disagree with you about Policy. Bill Walsh implemented a SYSTEM that was designed to sustain excellence. That system involved constant renewal of the roster through scouting and the draft. Knowing what KIND of talent you wanted helped lead to making fewer mistakes. Knowing what KIND of talent you wanted led to making picks in the mid and late rounds that made great contributions. Walsh wasn't freaked out by going 10-6 as long as he made the playoffs, but in going 10-6 he was developing his young talent and so the roster was constantly renewed.

Policy got caught up in thinking "we're a Dynasty Team; we have to go 14-2". But that thinking led to mortgaging the future on bringing in outside veterans who could add "one more piece" instead of renewing the roster each year with young talent. He did not have the talent evaluating skills of Walsh and he went away from the emphasis on the draft with the inevitable results: we got old and expensive and ended up "in salary cap hell" AND we had the wrong KIND of young talent coming in. Can anyone say Jim Druckenmiller?!

No, though the winning went on for a few years, the dynasty ended when Carmen Policy took over!

The last taste of success we had was when Walsh was brought back in and brought in Jeff Garcia and set us up for success again; but once again his successor thought he knew better how to win championships and the results were the same as Policy's "I know better" results had been!

Good analysis that I tend to agree with.

Walsh always said he would rather cut a player a year too early than a year too late - it was more important to develop new talent. It was painful at times though.