San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers, American professional football team based in Santa Clara, California, that plays in the National Football League (NFL). The 49ers have won five Super Bowl titles (1982, 1985, 1989, 1990, and 1995) and eight National Football Conference (NFC) championships.

(Read Walter Camp’s 1903 Britannica essay on inventing American football.)

Britannica Quiz

Super Bowl Quiz

The San Francisco 49ers were established in the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946. The team had a winning record in each of its first four years, but it could not displace the dominant Cleveland Browns, who won every championship in the four seasons of the AAFC. After the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950, the 49ers struggled through their first losing season. Despite the presence of five future Hall of Famers—quarterback Y.A. Tittle, running backs Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry, tackle Bob St. Clair, and defensive lineman Leo Nomellini—the 49ers were mostly unsuccessful during the 1950s, advancing to the postseason only once, in 1957. The following year San Francisco began a string of 12 consecutive seasons without a playoff berth. One of the most noteworthy players on the team during the 1960s was running back Dave Kopay, who in 1977 became the first athlete from a major American team sport to publicly acknowledge that he was a homosexual. A resurgent 49ers squad under the guidance of head coach Dick Nolan and led by quarterback John Brodie advanced to the NFC championship game in both 1971 and 1972 but lost to the Dallas Cowboys on both occasions.

The 49ers ascendancy began in earnest in 1979 when quarterback Joe Montana was drafted by new head coach Bill Walsh. Upon his arrival in San Francisco, Walsh installed his innovative “West Coast offense,” which relied on a series of quick, accurate passes and was a perfect fit for Montana’s skills. San Francisco rebounded from a 2–14 record in Walsh’s first year to the franchise’s first Super Bowl win in his third. The 49ers’ title run was highlighted by a last-second victory over the Cowboys in the NFC championship game off a brilliant touchdown pass from Montana to wide receiver Dwight Clark, which was immortalized as “The Catch.” The 49ers lost to the Washington Redskins in the 1984 NFC championship game, but they lost only one game the following year and returned to the Super Bowl, where they easily defeated the Miami Dolphins. In the 1985 NFL draft, the team selected wide receiver Jerry Rice, who would team with Montana to create one of the most prolific passing duos in NFL history on his way to breaking every major career receiving record. After guiding the 49ers to a third Super Bowl win, in 1989, Walsh retired and handed head-coaching duties to his defensive coordinator, George Seifert.

While the 49ers teams of the 1980s were best known for their offensive prowess, their defense featured a number of star players, including future Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott. San Francisco’s dominance on both sides of the ball was evidenced in 1990, when the 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos 55–10 in the most lopsided Super Bowl victory of all time. An injury to Montana in 1991 gave Steve Young an opportunity to step in as the 49ers’ starting quarterback. Young excelled in his new role, which allowed the 49ers to trade Montana in 1993, and the team won a fifth Super Bowl in 1995. Young’s retirement in 1999 marked a symbolic end to the 49ers’ long reign atop the NFL—the team had qualified for the postseason in 15 of the 16 seasons between 1983 and 1998—and San Francisco struggled to field a consistently competitive team through the first decade of the 21st century.

In 2011 first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh guided a young 49ers team built around a ferocious defense to the team’s first playoff appearance since 2002; it ended in an NFC championship game loss to the New York Giants. The next year, the 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC championship game to return to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years. However, San Francisco was defeated by the Baltimore Ravens 34–31. Following the 2013 season, the 49ers returned to a third consecutive NFC championship game (the third time that the franchise had hit that mark of sustained excellence in its history), but the team lost a close contest to its division rival the Seattle Seahawks.

In 2014 the 49ers moved 48 miles (77 km) southeast of their namesake city to a new stadium and team headquarters in Santa Clara. That season saw the end of the team’s streak of playoff berths, as the 49ers finished 8–8, and, after reports of friction between the coach and the front office dogged the franchise all season, Harbaugh and the team mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the year. The team’s play drastically fell off following Harbaugh’s departure: the 49ers posted four consecutive seasons with double-digit losses. Kyle Shanahan was brought in to coach the team in 2017, and, in his third year at the helm, he oversaw a dramatic improvement, as the 49ers added nine wins to the previous year’s total to finish the 2019 season with a 13–3 record and the top seed in the NFC playoffs. Backed by the strong play of rookie defensive end Nick Bosa and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco easily won its two home postseason games to advance to the seventh Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Although leading at the start of the fourth quarter, the 49ers ultimately lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 31–20.

After posting a losing record in 2020, San Francisco went 10–7 the following season and made the playoffs. The 49ers won their first two games but lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game. In 2022 Garoppolo suffered a season-ending injury and was replaced by Brock Purdy, who had been the last pick in that year’s draft. Purdy helped the 49ers advance to the NFC title game, where they again lost, this time to the Philadelphia Eagles. Led by the strong play of Purdy, San Francisco finished the 2023 season with a record of 12–5 and made its third consecutive trip to the NFC championship game. The team defeated the Detroit Lions to advance to the Super Bowl, where the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime, 25–22.