It’s a topic that will bring up painful, emotional, and downright no-good memories. We asked San Francisco 49ers fans what one moment in history they would change for the franchise.
Depending on your age range, the answer is easy. As randywildman pointed out, if you’re over the age of 40, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Roger Craig fumbling. That was among the most popular answers, and rightfully so.
The Niners were on the doorstep of an opportunity to three-peat. That fourth quarter
marked a turning point for the franchise. Joe Montana suffered an injury, paving the way for Steve Young. Unfortunately, the 49ers lost the game due to the fumble without allowing a touchdown. Pat Summerall’s infamous “there will be no three-peat” still haunts any 49ers fan who watched that game.
User Seb summed up the pain, highlighting the Charles Haley trade, not handing the ball to Frank Gore near the goal line against the Ravens, Jimmy Garoppolo missing Emmanuel Sanders, and not blocking the Chiefs’ best player near the goal line in the Super Bowl.
Greg Roman of all people failing to run the ball remains confusing after all of these years.
Knowing what we know about Jimmy and how he never caught on after he left the Niners, it’s more surprising in hindsight how successful the organization was with him under center. That probably speaks to how loaded the rest of the roster was.
The options are endless, as Root2401er pointed out:
Not let Mike Shanahan leave, promote him to head coach instead.
Don’t extend JJ Stokes so we can keep Jerry Rice, that’s another.
Maybe draft Pat Mahomes? That might just have been a good idea.
Maybe sign Tom Brady?
In today’s NFL, the 49ers would have gotten a ton of scrutiny for letting an offensive genius like Mike Shanahan walk. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which the team would pick a defensive mind like George Siefert over Shanahan. Siefert would end up coaching the 49ers through the 1996 season. Things worked out pretty well for Shanahan after he left.
Then we have hindsight. For example, poo-pooing the Trey Lance draft pick. To this day, I still have no problem with the idea that you’re going to bring in a game-changing, athletic, rocket-armed quarterback. Lance was the opposite of what they had. It didn’t work out. That’s part of the game.
But to act like the 49ers have struggled in the years without Lance is laughable. In 2022 and 20223, they were, in the most literal sense, the best teams in the NFL. That’s not saying there was luck involved there after hitting on Brock Purdy, but the foundation was laid for whichever quarterback to come in and shine.
That’s not the only quarterback where there’s revisionist history. I think it’s fair to question why there wasn’t a quarterback selected in 2017. You’re a new regime. Deshaun Watson was outstanding in college with obvious NFL tools. In the draft community, Patrick Mahomes was looked at as an intriguing prospect. Wouldn’t you rather be wrong on a quarterback than any other position? Especially if that position is a tweener defensive lineman.
I’d push back on the 2005 NFL Draft. Alex Smith was the definition of safe. He turned out to be better than that and worthy of the No. 1 overall pick. Of course, there was also a future Hall of Famer in that draft. So it’s easy to look back and say, “You shou’dve drafted Aaron Rodgers.”
That roster was abysmal. The rookie version of Rodgers, who, remember, we never saw, was not flourishing in that offensive infrastructure.
We can go through each decade and discuss several moments. This is one of the most storied franchises full of “What if?” moments. What ones did we miss? Scroll down and let us know in the comments.
