Why do you like/love the 49ers?

Thanks for sharing everyone. It's been nice reading your relevance to loving this team.

Why I love the 49ers...? Because my dad told me to.

Originally posted by Niner_Faithful_MTL:

When I was around 7-8 years old I would see my cousins wearing there 49er gear all the time... I would idolize my cousins. Then one day I saw in the back of my mom's car a big bag full of 49ers clothes my cousins outgrew them and passed it on to me.. one of the greatest gifts I've ever received. I've been a fan since then.. I love the 49ers...the history..The class the greatness of this organization.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Listening to my father and grandfather argue the merits of Albert and Tittle. Fighting with my brothers over the sporting green to read stories about the team. Listening to Lon Simmons and Gordy Soltau on the radio as we worked on the ranch.

Fun days but there were many disappointments as well as joys over the years. The worst years for me were Eddie D's firing of Clark and hiring a clown car full of bad coaches and the worst GM in the history of the NFL. Then he brought in the local hero from Stanford via San Jose State...everything changed and we were the best!

The Erickson/Nolan/Singletary/JohnYork era was pretty hard to take because it lasted so long, but the first two years of Eddie D's reign was excruciating...probably due to my age--HS kids are much more emotional! Joe Thomas tore the team apart!

Originally posted by verb1der:

The only thing that's really keeping me a niner fan is my veteran status here in NT. I don't want to have to start all over on another site.

Haha that's hella funny!

Originally posted by Robert:

Great question. Thanks for asking it!

I moved around a ton as a kid. Just me and my mom. 8 states, 12 schools, nearly 40 housing situations. Nothing was stable. Had this racist relative we were staying with in Virginia Beach. I couldn't stand them. Big skins fan. The Skins were playing the niners in NFC championship game. Relative was rooting for the Skins. So, I rooted for the "other team". The Skins won on a BS pass interference call, I successfully irritated said relative by referring to the Skins has having bought the refs. I began to follow the niners after that.

No matter how many times we moved, no matter how much turmoil was in my life, the one thing I could count on in my childhood was the 49ers. They were consistently amazing! 16 consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins. I felt like I was a part of greatness, but I also felt like I cheated too. Because I wasn't from the Bay Area and didn't really have any right to claim them. And all that winning allowed people to say that I was just a fair weather fan, that I wouldn't' be so passionate about them, if I they sucked.

So, I decided as soon as I graduated high school I'd move where the niners play. Figured any City that could produce that team was a great city for me to start my life. Finished up high school in Florida, packed one bag and took a long as bus ride out here to finally claim my team. I was sad to the see the glory days end in 1999, but I relished the opportunity to root for the team while it struggled, because it gave me a chance to prove that I am faithful, thick and thin

Man thay is powerful! Thanks for sharing. Yes this team has brought me a long way. Glad the niners have done the same you. Never heard a story like this! Incredible!

I was a fan of the original #16 Jim Plunkett

Originally posted by teylo31:

The 49ers to me are more than a team and more than the game of football.

Im 34 and i probably went to my 1st game around 6 or 7 as my father tells me as i dont really remember. The one thing i do remember for the last 27 years or so is that the 49ers and 49er games have always meant the time my father and i have spent together over the years. Getting our tailgate supplies and menu for the next day ready on saturday was time spent with my father. Getting up early and heading to The Stick on Sunday on the 101 and seeing the metal lights and bowl on the horizon always put butterflies and feelings of excitement, hope, and anxiousnessin my stomach. Getting into the parking lot and setting up and then getting the football out to throw arpund with Pops before too many people got parked are always memories i will cherish regardless of the outcome of the game. As i got older i was able to drive to the games and get everything ready for tailgating and football Sunday and the torch and manhood was sort of passed along to me.

Then i joined the Marine Corps and i was lucky to get stationed in Camp Pendleton and iwas able to come up North to a couple games here and there. While i was a boot @ss Marine the 49ers played the Chargers in SD. My dad flew down and stayed the weekend in my barracks room so on sunday we caught the bus in front of my bricks and took it out to Oceanside to catch the Coaster down to SD to transfer and catch the bus to the stadium to watch the game which was mostly 49er fans.

Being stationed in Kuwait next to an Air Force base that didnt really like the Marines coming on base so we had to get special passes thst were hard to get. Not everybody cpuld get passes but i risked a little and snuck on the base and into the tv trailer to watch the 1st 2 games of the 2003 season

When the 2000s were here and the team was pretty bad i told myself i was done but come hell or high water i was there on every Sunday to cheer or yell for/at our 49ers. I was stationed in Japan for a little bit and it was a rare treat when i could watch a little bit of 49er football on my lunch break on Monday when the AFN network saw it dit to play them. Remember this was 2000s so they didnt make the AFN much

Then i got stationed in Hawaii who do not turn back/forward clocks for daylight savings so the early east coast games i was rubbing hangover out of my eyes or heading to the bar at 7 or 8 to watch our 49ers

I am not bragging but merely pointing out 49er football is like a moth to light. Its also more than football fpr me but a love between a father and son and memories i will hold on to forever and something i hope to pass to my kids if i ever have some

That is my story why i love the 49ers and i hope you stay but if you dont oh well. GO 49ERS

Nice! 49ers have brought a father/son relationship closer! It has done the same with me and my siblings! I love the team, just despise how the league is moving. I'll always be a fan I guess I'm mad at the nfl and all its rules

1984 was the first season I can remember as a football fan and through family, I'm a Niner fan. Through those years of excellence I lived and died with the team, resetting the bar for what anyone in my family believed was possible as far as passion was concerned. Niner football was and is a way of life. My wardrobe and home decor for over 30 years has been Scarlett and Gold. Nothing changed through the dark ages. Undying support of some pretty bad teams, coaches, QBs and front office. 2011 was surreal, almost like I forgot what it was like to win...regularly. I still say, if Kyle Wiliams didn't happen and we on to WIN the super bowl, no future win could ever top that ride from the abyss.

Here we are, viable, competitive, significant, a factor in the whole plan...year in and year out with a stock pile of draft picks. Love this team.

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:

I was a fan of the original #16 Jim Plunkett

1977 tops...ha!

Born and raised in SF, and I am a 3rd generation fan from a family of die-hard 49er fans.

You either Love the Niners or you hate them. Anything else is considered fair weather.

Born in SJ, and my Dad has been a huge fan for a long time.

It was one of those things where I was never forced to like the Niners, but it never crossed my mind to like any other team. Its where im from, its where my family is from, and my Dad was a big fan. It just came naturally.

I vaguely remember watching Super Bowl 29, and then the following 1995 season I started to get into collecting football cards and playing Madden. From there I became obsessed with the NFL and the Niners.

I really think the thing that seperates a fanatical obsession with sports, and a casual interest in sports is whether or not you got into it as a kid. When youre a kid, you have all the time in the world to learn everything there is to know about it. I used to spend hours memorizing the rosters/player numbers, drawing the NFL team logos by division, sorting cards, playing full seasons on Madden 96 for Sega Genesis, etc.

I love the 49ers history, their 20 year dynasty, the fact that they have the best uniforms/colors in football, etc.

It seems weird to me that someone would lose interest in being a Niner fan. A real fan would never change loyalties. They might be owned by a group of boneheads, but the 49ers are still the best franchise in the history of the NFL. Thats never going to change. To change teams is a step down no matter where you pick.

The history of Walsh, Montana, Rice, Lott, Young, etc. The beautiful red and gold combo on the green field backdrop. Those 5 Lombardi Trophies. Why would you want to be a fan of anyone else?

My father owned a bar back in the 70s and 80s. Growing up in the greater Cleveland area, it was browns games and the 4 pm east coast always seemed to be the niners. The first game, I can remember was "the catch" - I was hooked ever since. I thought Montana was a rock star, Lott was such an enforcer, then Rice comes along and we see the goat up close. All this and you have the Genius. It was an awesome time, tested my faith when they let Joe go to KC, but I warmed up to Young. Over the years I always gravitated to the player that seemed to carry that Walsh Corinthian winning with class. I loved Bryant Young and now Gore and the Cowboy. Love the tradition, the mystic and the shots of the Bay Area.

Originally posted by plummerfan:
Roll-call Webzoners:
I would like to know why you fanatics love the San Francisco 49ers? I have been on the decline for several years even on the road to the super-bowl. My love for the team has been on the decline. Who introduced you to the San Francisco 49ers and why you love them. Looking for inspiration to rekindle my passion for this team.

Because I am stupid. I live 10 minutes from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and I am going to the Ravens Pats game today. Life would have been alot easier if I was a Pats fan but I saw my first football game at age 7 in 1992 which was the MNF game vs Detroit at the end of the year when Montana came in for his last game as a niner. I was watching with my dad and uncle (Pats fans) who were commenting on how Montana was playing and how he was the best ever so I was drawn to him and the team. Bought a KC Montana jersey the next year and followed both teams but I liked the 49ers better and the rest is history. Stayed with them during the dark years while New England won 3 super bowls.

I love my NINERS because the first person I saw when I was 4 was Joe Montana in the Super bowl 1984 and fell in love with the team ever since. No one can question my fan hood. I was born in Jersey where there are all giant fans, family and friends I've argueud with throughout my years. I'm in hostile territory and always have been asked how the hell did you become a NINER fan amongst giant fans? I will never forget when I fell in love with this team. Sometimes I may not agree with certain decisions and get sad but when I die, Everyone knew that I bleed red and gold..

You pick your team then you stay with it through thick and thin, or else you are just a fair weather fan. I picked them in 1983 and its been great and its been tough. But it has always been the 49ers.