LATEST NEWS: 49ers have just done it again

In September 1995, Dana Carvey walked the stage in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts to film his new HBO comedy special, and after only two minutes of riffing on standing ovations and other meta standup comments, he began his performance in earnest with a statement of a bygone era.

“Well, all I can say to you folks is: Fuckin’ 49ers!”While this may sound surprising in 2024, the Niners were defending champions in 1995, having won five of the previous 14 titles. Their victory in Super Bowl XXIX eight months earlier made them the first franchise to win five Super Bowls, part of a two-decade-long run in which they would miss the playoffs only twice, once in the nine-game 1982 strike season and again in 1991, when they went 10-6 and mollywhopped my playoff-bound Bears 52-14 in the season finale, leaving my postseason confidence severely, and rightfully, depleted.

From 1981 to 1998, the 49ers won 10 or more games in every season with at least ten games. They went undefeated in the Super Bowl, won five more NFC Championships, had back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks, the greatest wide receiver of all time, changed the rules of modern NFL offence, and sent more players to Canton on defence than on their more famous side of the ball. They had three of the top eight biggest ass-whippings in Super Bowl history at the time, including their 55-10 thrashing of the Broncos, which is still ranked first today.

In Super Bowl XXIX, the Niners set records for the fastest Super Bowl score as well as the fastest two Super Bowl scores. Steve Young threw six Super Bowl touchdowns, Jerry Rice and Ricky Watters both tied the Super Bowl touchdown record, and Deion Sanders became the first athlete in history to play in both the World Series and the Super Bowl. Niners fans, including Dana Carvey, had reason to hope that the Bay Area will see one or two more championships before the end of the century.

Nearly a quarter of the way into the next century, the Bay remains barren.

One thing they have been able to resurrect is their QB dominance. When I think about 49ers history, I envision quarterbacks. The Niners were founded in 1946 as an AAFC charter franchise, and rookie quarterback Frankie Albert was voted second-team All-Pro behind future Hall of Famer Otto Graham. The two men led their clubs to the 1949 AAFC Championship, the first postseason game in 49ers history, which the Browns won. Albert kept the job until 1951, and he was the last 49ers quarterback to start more than three seasons without winning the league MVP until Jeff Garcia.

Following Albert was Y.A. Tittle, who won the UPI MVP award in 1957 and led the Niners to their second playoff game, a 31-27 blown-lead defeat to the Lions that was much discussed during the NFC Championship Game. Tittle gave birth to John Brodie, who took over the starting role in 1960 and remained there for over a decade, leading the Niners to their next postseason appearance in 1970 and their first playoff victory.

Three consecutive postseason appearances were followed by eight straight without, all the way until 1981, when third-year pro Joe Montana defeated the 1970s Cowboys and launched what Carvey’s audience accurately saw as the finest dynasty of the Super Bowl era. Under Bill Walsh’s direction, the 49ers of Montana and later Steve Young completed