When did the "Super Bowl or bust" mentality end?

Originally posted by highwayone:
It ended here.

Agreed.

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
I say it was right after Jacksonville slaughtered us in the '99 season opener. Either that or when Aeneas Williams knocked out Steve Young.

lol what?? we had won 10+ games for 17 consecutive seasons, and after a week one blowout in the 18th season you think we lost all hope for the Super Bowl?

we lost the Super Bowl or bust mentality in 2004 with a 2-14 record. 99 and 00 were painful, but we bounced back with 2 more 10-12 win seasons and playoff births in 01 and 02. 03 was kind of that "were an elite franchise, we'll just re-tool and get back to winning in a year or 2". 2003 was unacceptable, but we had seen the 4-12 and 6-10 down period, and bounced back.

i think it became very apparent during the 2004 season that this team was in for a LONG ride the rest of the decade.

I personally felt like Super Bowl or bust was a lost cause early in 2004.

when the yorks set out to erase eddie and walsh

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by highwayone:
It ended here.

Agreed.

forever young

When Yorks took over.

It ended when Eddie D was forced to give up the team. He was the driving force for excellence, sometimes to excess. No one in the front office or on the team felt secure, so they performed every day like it mattered. After he left, the team had employees who put in their hours. Many still worked hard but it wasn't consistent, across the board maniacal effort. Don't know how long you can keep up that kind of intensity, Walsh was done before he should have been perhaps, but it does tend to forge a team.

Edit--the fact that Walsh, Montana, etc. worried that every game was their last says it all. Can't believe Montana would go to every camp thinking he would be replaced!

Originally posted by Niners99:

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
I say it was right after Jacksonville slaughtered us in the '99 season opener. Either that or when Aeneas Williams knocked out Steve Young.

lol what?? we had won 10+ games for 17 consecutive seasons, and after a week one blowout in the 18th season you think we lost all hope for the Super Bowl?

we lost the Super Bowl or bust mentality in 2004 with a 2-14 record. 99 and 00 were painful, but we bounced back with 2 more 10-12 win seasons and playoff births in 01 and 02. 03 was kind of that "were an elite franchise, we'll just re-tool and get back to winning in a year or 2". 2003 was unacceptable, but we had seen the 4-12 and 6-10 down period, and bounced back.

i think it became very apparent during the 2004 season that this team was in for a LONG ride the rest of the decade.

I personally felt like Super Bowl or bust was a lost cause early in 2004.

No, we lost it when Steve Young retired. He has said he would have kept playing if the team was still going for the Super Bowl. But he was told it was time to rebuild, so he retired. That is when it really ended.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
When Yorks took over.

Originally posted by wysiwyg:
We had a 3 time Pro Bowl QB in Garcia from 2000-2002

1999 was tough

Gotta be the 2003, which coincided with the beginning of the York regime, firing Mooch, and hiring Donahue, who actually lived and worked in Los Angeles. And this guy:



2004 brought us quite possible the worst team in NFL history -- the missed field goal returned for a touch down, Cody Pickett, Dorsey and The Rat.

Looking at the roster http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sfo/2004_roster.htm the team should not have been that bad but it was

2004 begat the Suit and Alex

The Suit begat the Cross

Which begat.....




my arrival on the Zone to lead the resistance!

Irons his cowl.

Been fightin' for truth, justice, and a championship team ever since.

Originally posted by fropwns:

Originally posted by wysiwyg:
We had a 3 time Pro Bowl QB in Garcia from 2000-2002

1999 was tough

Gotta be the 2003, which coincided with the beginning of the York regime, firing Mooch, and hiring Donahue, who actually lived and worked in Los Angeles. And this guy:



2004 brought us quite possible the worst team in NFL history -- the missed field goal returned for a touch down, Cody Pickett, Dorsey and The Rat.

Looking at the roster http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sfo/2004_roster.htm the team should not have been that bad but it was

2004 begat the Suit and Alex

The Suit begat the Cross

Which begat.....




my arrival on the Zone to lead the resistance!

Irons his cowl.

Been fightin' for truth, justice, and a championship team ever since.

^THIS

The savior is among us

The post Marriucci era. Clearly we still had the mentality or why would we have fired a guy who just won a playoff game on the road and had shown the promise of awesomeness in 1998?

When Eddie D got de throned and the Yorks came in. Now the team is in perpetual transition, continuosly rebuilding year after year.

Let solid players go through FA to draft their clones.

Have essentially the same draft round 2-7 in 2009 and 2010.

Drafting and signing players that have no impact for the Niners yet other teams can use their talents.

Announcing the niners will win the NFC west and impose their will on other teams, when in reality my mother who knows nothing about football know what offensive calls will be used.

When Alex Smith was drafted #1 over Aaron Rodgers. 6 years of pergatory.

Originally posted by zeppfan1:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
When Yorks took over.

"Superbowl or bust" was top down philosophy from Eddie Debartolo. When he was outed from the NFL, that philosophy left town too. Sure, the Yorks want a Superbowl. But wanting it is different than driving your organization to achieve it.

Originally posted by Muggins879:
Pretty much when Steve Young got KO'd. I never felt Garcia would win us a Superbowl and Rice was winding down.

If Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson could win Super Bowls, Garcia could. Mooch could have been the problem. Either he was getting the team to over achieve in the regular season or just not a great coach in the play-offs. Kneeling on our 40 before half time against Tampa Bay in 2002 got my blood boiling.

As to the OP's question, it ended when the Yorks took over. I hope with the Harbaugh hire they are finally getting it.