Each 49ers Super Bowl team had a defining and turning moment of the season and game
Before any rainbows, there was darkness. And storm clouds, chaos and confusion.
The 49ers were lost souls in the late 1970s, the dregs of the NFL, before a 32-year-old owner named Eddie DeBortolo Jr. hired a first-time head coach in 47-year-old Bill Walsh.
This was in 1979. DeBortolo tossed Walsh the keys to what amounted to a 1970 Chevy Vega with a blown head gasket and told him to lead the way to the promised land.
Before long, Walsh was at the wheel of a Cadillac.
San Francisco won Super Bowls following the 1981, ’84, ’88, ’89 and ’94 seasons, each team defined by a turning point of the season. More darkness followed as the franchise hit the skids. Under the bravado and bluster of Jim Harbaugh in 2012, the 49ers stormed back to the Super Bowl, their lone loss on the NFL’s biggest stage.
Then the sky fell again. Coaches came and went. The 49ers went 2-14 in 2016, started 0-9 in 2017 and went 4-12 last season.
Now a new pot of gold is here. The 49ers are back in the Super Bowl, to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 2 in Miami, where they won two Super Bowls. CEO Jed York gambled on a first-time head coach in Kyle Shanahan and a first-time NFL front-office man in general manager John Lynch. Both have been home-run hires that set the tone.
A peek at each 49ers Super Bowl, defining seasonal moments and the results:
Super Bowl XVI
Date: Jan. 24, 1982
Location: Detroit Pontiac Silverdome
Score: 49ers 26, Cincinnati Bengals 21
MVP: Joe Montana
Attendance: 81,270
National anthem: Diana Ross
Halftime show: Up with People “Salute to Motown”
Turning point: The 49ers acquired via trade defensive end terror Fred Dean from the San Diego Chargers, and days later he wreaked havoc on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 at Candlestick Park. He had three sacks and two batted-down passes in a 45-14 wake-up rout. The 49ers also added before the season linebacker Jack Reynolds, who often drove to games fully padded up.
Defining moment: After “The Catch” launched the 49ers into the Super Bowl, Walsh kept his team at ease by dressing up, surprisingly, as a bel hop at the team hotel. Then the young 49ers played like a season bunch, a poised Montana, four field goals from Ray Wersching and Dan Bunz recording the deciding goal-line tackle to help seal it.
They said it then: “I thought it might be you calling,” Walsh to the man on the other end of the phone in the locker room: President Ronald Reagan.
Super Bowl XIX
Date: Jan. 20, 1985
Location: Stanford Stadium
Score: 49ers 38, Miami Dolphins 16
MVP: Montana
Attendance: 84,059
National anthem: San Francisco Boys & Girls Chorus
Halftime show: U.S. Air Force Tops In Blue
Defining moment: Training camp holdouts due to contract issues were a story line for Fred Dean, Ronnie Lott and Freddie Solomon, but all reported on time, some well paid. After missing the playoffs following its first Super Bowl conquest and reaching the NFC championship following the 1983 season, San Francisco stormed through the season as the first to go 15-1, blowing past the next two Super Bowl winners in the playoffs in the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants.
Home sweet home: Of all places, the Super Bowl was held just down the road from Candlestick Park at Stanford Stadium, which would never happen now. Dan Marino was the hottest quarterback in 1984, the first to pass for 5,000 yards and first to toss 48 touchdowns, but Montana won the show, leading 28-16 at the half and shutting out the Dolphins the rest of the way. San Francisco gained a Super Bowl-record 537 yards as Montana passed for 331 yards and three scores.
They said it then: Walsh: “This truly is the greatest moment of my career, the best game we ever played since I joined the 49ers.”
Super Bowl XXIII
Date: Jan. 22, 1989
Location: Miami
Score: 49ers 20, Bengals 16
MVP: Jerry Rice
Attendance: 75,129
National anthem: Billy Joel
Halftime show: Be Bop Bamboozled
Turning point: The 49ers were mired in a quarterback controversy the first part of the season, engineed by Walsh to rally and motivate: Montana vs. Steve Young. San Francisco started 6-5 and was about to come apart at the seams before Walsh decided on Montana, who passed for 357 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl.
Candid moment: Trailing by three with the game winding down in Miami, Montana huddled his group and pointed out that actor John Candy was there. Joe Cool was that cool. He then led the winning drive, hitting John Taylor.
They said it then: Bengals coach Sam Wyche: “I don’t know of anybody who can play as well in the clutch as Joe does.”
Super Bowl XXIV
Date: Jan. 28, 1990
Location: New Orleans Superdome
Score: 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10
MVP: Montana
Attendance: 72,919
National anthem: Aaron Neville
Halftime show: Pete Fountain, Doug Kershaw, Irma Thomas
Rolling momentum: The 49ers never missed a beat from the previous postseason wave, though it was done without Walsh, who stepped down following the previous Super Bowl on the brink of burnout. Defensive coordinator George Seifert took over and a relaxed team played the part in blasting all comers. Broadcaster Terry Bradshaw was high on Montana and not too fond of Denver quarterback John Elway, saying the game “could be as bad as 55-3.” Close.
Say again? Broncos defensive back Dennis Smith leading up vowed to smack 49ers receivers Rice and Taylor, saying, “We are going to beat them up a bit. When they catch a ball against us, they are going to remember it.” Rice remembers reaching the end zone three times.
They said it then: 49ers linebacker Michael Walter on Seifert: “He is the George Bush of coaches. He did things in a kinder, gentler way. He came down from the ivory tower.”
Super Bowl XXIX
Date: Jan. 29, 1995
Location: Miami
Score: 49ers 49, Chargers 26
MVP: Young
Attendance: 74,107
National anthem: Kathie Lee Gifford
Halftime show: Miami Sound Machine
Monkey release: For five seasons, several of them torturous, Young was in Montana’s considerable shadow. By this time, Young was the best quarterback in football, a Hall of Famer in the making during the NFL’s 75th season. He took a victory lap after beating Dallas in the NFC championship then tossed a Super Bowl-record six touchdowns, three to Jerry Rice, to torch San Diego before telling teammates to yank “this monkey off my back.”
Key additions: The new age of free agency rewarded the 49ers as they signed Ken Norton, Jr., Gary Plummer, Ricky Jackson and Deion Sanders.
They said it then: Steve Young: “You know the standards I had to live up to. That’s why this is precious. Critics? To hell with them.”
Super Bowl XLVII
Date: Feb. 3, 2013
Location: New Orleans Superdome
Score: Baltimore Ravens 34, 49ers 31
MVP: Joe Flacco
Attendance: 71,024
National anthem: Alicia Keys
Halftime show: Beyoncé
Defining moment: The seismic-shift transition from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick wasn’t without debate, but it worked as it landed the club back on the biggest stage as he dazzled with a hybrid feel of runner and passer.
Deciding moment: The “HarBowl” between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and brother John of the Ravens had its share of feel-good family storytelling, but the older Ravens beat the younger 49ers, who trailed 28-6 after Jacoby Jones’ 108-yard kickoff return. Then there was a 34-minute delay due to a partial power outage in the Superdome, which had Jim Harbaugh thinking conspiracy, though his team scored 17 points in 4 minutes to make it a game.
They said it then: 49ers tackle Joe Staley: “We came all this way and came up five yards short.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.