San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference, a rival league that challenged the NFL's monopoly on professional football. Named after the Gold Rush prospectors of 1849, the team was owned by lumber magnate Tony Morabito and quickly became one of the AAFC's most popular franchises.

The 49ers were dominant in the AAFC, led by quarterback Frankie Albert and fullback Joe "The Jet" Perry, who would become the first player in pro football history to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. When the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950, the 49ers were one of three teams absorbed into the older league (along with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts).

The transition to the NFL was rocky. The 49ers were competitive but couldn't break through in the much stronger league, and the franchise spent the 1950s as a solid but unremarkable team. Tony Morabito died of a heart attack during a 49ers game in 1957, and his brother Vic assumed control. The franchise was laying the groundwork for future success, but the first great era of 49ers football was still two decades away.

The 1960s and 1970s were a period of consistent competitiveness but ultimate frustration for the 49ers. Quarterback John Brodie was one of the best passers in the league, winning the 1970 NFL MVP award, and the team reached three consecutive NFC Championship Games from 1970 to 1972 — losing all three, including a devastating defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in the 1971 NFC title game.

The franchise changed hands when the DeBartolo family, led by Edward DeBartolo Jr., purchased the team in 1977. Eddie D., as he was universally known, would become the most transformative owner in franchise history, but his early years were rough. The 49ers went 2-14 in 1978 and 2-14 again in 1979, hitting rock bottom before one of the greatest turnarounds in sports history.

What DeBartolo brought was ambition, resources, and a willingness to hire the best people and get out of their way. In January 1979, he made the most important hiring decision in franchise history: Bill Walsh as head coach.

Bill Walsh arrived to a 2-14 team and, within three seasons, transformed the 49ers into Super Bowl champions. The catalyst was the West Coast Offense — Walsh's revolutionary short-passing scheme that used precise timing and route combinations to dissect defenses. The philosophy changed football forever and is the ancestor of virtually every modern passing offense.

Joe Montana, a third-round pick from Notre Dame, became Walsh's perfect instrument. Calm under pressure to the point of seeming almost indifferent, Montana led the 49ers to four Super Bowl victories — XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV — and never threw an interception in Super Bowl play. "The Catch" — Dwight Clark's leaping end-zone reception to beat Dallas in the 1981 NFC Championship Game — launched the dynasty and remains one of the defining plays in NFL history.

The supporting cast was extraordinary: Ronnie Lott, the most fearsome safety in NFL history; Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver ever to play the game; Roger Craig, the first player to gain 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in the same season. Walsh retired after Super Bowl XXIII and was succeeded by George Seifert, who won Super Bowl XXIV in his first season and kept the dynasty going through the early 1990s. The Walsh-Montana 49ers didn't just win — they elevated the sport.

Steve Young had perhaps the most unenviable job in football: replacing Joe Montana. Young was spectacularly talented — a left-handed scrambler with a cannon arm — but he lived under the shadow of his predecessor until he exorcised the demons in emphatic fashion.

The 1994 season was Young's masterpiece. He threw 35 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions, won the MVP award, and led the 49ers to a 49-26 demolition of the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX, throwing six touchdown passes — a Super Bowl record that still stands. Young was named Super Bowl MVP, and the 49ers had their fifth championship.

The late 1990s were complicated. Young continued to play at a high level, but concussion concerns were mounting, and he would ultimately be forced to retire after the 1999 season due to repeated head injuries. The DeBartolo era also came to an end when Eddie D. was suspended by the NFL and forced to transfer ownership to his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, as part of a gambling fraud scandal in Louisiana. The dynasty was over.

The 2000s were the worst decade in 49ers history. The franchise that had won five Super Bowls in 14 years suddenly couldn't win at all. A revolving door of coaches — Steve Mariucci, Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary — presided over losing season after losing season. The 49ers made the playoffs just once between 2003 and 2010, and that lone appearance (a Wild Card loss in 2001) felt like a footnote.

The roster lacked impact talent, the coaching was inconsistent, and the York family's management of the franchise drew widespread criticism. Candlestick Park, the team's aging home since 1971, was increasingly seen as an embarrassment, and the franchise's once-golden reputation was badly tarnished.

The nadir may have been the 2004 and 2005 seasons, when the 49ers went a combined 4-28 under Dennis Erickson and Mike Nolan. For a franchise accustomed to excellence, it was a humbling and painful stretch.

Jim Harbaugh's arrival in 2011 produced one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NFL history. The 49ers went from 6-10 to 13-3 in his first season, reaching the NFC Championship Game behind a suffocating defense led by Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman, Justin Smith, and Aldon Smith. Harbaugh's intensity and coaching ability were immediately evident.

The 49ers reached the NFC Championship Game three consecutive years under Harbaugh (2011, 2012, 2013) and played in Super Bowl XLVII after the 2012 season. That Super Bowl against the Baltimore Ravens — the "Harbowl," since Jim's brother John coached the Ravens — ended in a heartbreaking 34-31 loss after a 34-minute power outage at the Superdome and a furious 49ers rally that fell just short.

Despite the on-field success, Harbaugh's combative personality clashed with the front office, and he was fired after an 8-8 season in 2014. The roster quickly deteriorated, with Willis, Bowman, and several other stars retiring or departing. The Harbaugh era had been brilliant but brief.