As 49ers fans there’s always the age-old question: who is the best 49er of all time? I think most of us know the obvious answer but just for fun we wanted to go through our top five greatest 49ers of all time. This list is not based on any era of 49ers football. It is just the greatest 49ers of all time based on accolades and stats. Most of these guys thought stats will never paint the picture for how good they were. Most of these players will be pretty easy to guess who and where they are. This should be pretty fun and we hope you guys enjoy it. Consider following Niner talk Central for more 49ers content like this.
Honorable Mentions
Now first off before we jump into the top five we would like to give some honorable mentions to two of the greatest 49ers of all time but just came short of our list. Those players my friends are Frank Gore and Terrell Owens. Both of these players cemented their legacy in 49ers jerseys forever and they still live on today. Frank Gore is personally one of my favorite 49ers of all time. that 2010 team will always live on forever in my heart. and Gore was probably the biggest part of that team or one of the biggest parts of that team. We were so close to getting him that ring in Super Bowl 48 and just came up short. Frank Gore is the all time leading 49ers rusher with 11k yards total and is also the fourth all-time leading rusher in NFL history. just behind Walter Payton very Sanders in Emmitt Smith. Gore was a five-time pro bowler and two-time All Pro in 2006 and 2009. He finished his career with 1600 yd 81 touchdowns and 16 seasons. Gore is the greatest 49ers running back of all time with Roger Craig being very close. Terrell Owens also known as TO is one of the greatest what ifs in 49ers history. He would most likely be in the top five if we had a team built around him and he would have stayed. From the moment TO stepped on the field we knew we had another star to replace Jerry Rice. he was the one bright spot in the rough 2000’s era. The catch II against the Packers I still remember how amazing seeing that was. The 2001 season for TO in particular was the best season he had and it was the best one we’ve seen since Jerry Rice. He finished with a career best 1,412 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. It defined them as the best wide receiver in the league. The 2001 playoffs were also great for him as he would get a game-winning touchdown against the Giants and the wild card game. you wanted more rightfully so and we couldn’t give it to him so his run with the niners was cut short. Now let’s get into the top 5.
Patrick Willis
Patrick Willis man was this guy good. If we had him in 2019 we would blow out the Chiefs. Sadly injuries cut his career short but his legacy lives on forever. In only 7 years in 100 games played he totaled 1,065 tackles with 859 of those being solo. He was so good at wrapping up and was such a hard hitter he was all we needed but we also had Navarro Bowman with him. Those two made the best linebacker Duo in the league Far and Away. Everybody was scared of our box. The fact we never won anything with them still blows my mind to this day. From his rookie season which outside of a couple guys is the greatest defensive rookie season ever. 2011 and 2012 where nobody wanted to line up with him. Throughout his entire time he was the best linebacker in the league. He finished his career with seven Pro bowls and five time first team all Pros. There will be no one like him ever again but Fred Warner is close and gives me hope.
Ronnie lott
Now Ronnie Lott, was something different. Everyone in this era had no idea what to do with him. He could cover, he could tackle and he would take out any player you sent to him for the rest of the game. He was Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu in the ’80s and better. No one had seen anybody like him; his versatility and ability to change positions anywhere made him one of the most feared players in NFL history. Having a safety that could cover as a corner and could hit like a linebacker and was faster than all wide receivers in the league was terrifying for opponents. The best part about him was his toughness and physicality that tore opposing players apart. He finished with a thousand plus tackles and 63 total interceptions in his career. He was all pro 7 times for them being first team. and was in the Pro Bowl every single year that he played literally was never not in the Pro Bowl. He played a vital role in the 49ers Four championships that they won while he was there. Best defensive 49er ever.
Steve Young
Steve Young, a man that somehow managed to exceed all expectations that Joe Montana’s shoes left to fill. Steve Young became instantly the most successful dual threat that anybody had ever seen. No one had managed to be a successful Runner and pastor at the same time; it just wasn’t common. Steve Young’s tenure with the 49ers made him become the greatest Lefty to ever play quarterback. Through 1987 to 1999 he finished with 33,000 yards, 200 32 touchdowns and 4,200 rushing yards. 1994 is the greatest season a quarterback has ever had. He won the NFL MVP award, he won a Super Bowl in the most dominant fashion ever and the Super Bowl MVP. His efficiency this season was ridiculous with a 112.8 passer rating which only Dan Marino has gotten close to at the time. He would end up with 4,000 yards, 35 touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns. He would be the greatest quarterback in 49ers history if it wasn’t for the next man up.
Joe Montana
Joe Montana, the first goat in NFL history we obviously know who took over but he was the man. He won four Super Bowls for the 49ers in his 13-year run. Now it’s becoming less and less impressive because it seems like everybody can win Super Bowls now except for us. But he was ridiculous with the 49ers he wouldn’t have 40K passing yards and 273 passing touchdowns in only 192 games played. This man could not be denied in his era everybody was scared of him he just won. time in and time out he won, no one could stop him. He is the only quarterback in history to go 4-0 in the Super Bowl. He won NFL MVP twice, had eight Pro bowls and was all pro first team three times. Joe Cool was so good it would be really hard to ever replicate what he did.
Jerry Rice
We all know who one was. There was never a doubt that it wasn’t going to be Jerry “Goat” Rice. Jerry Rice is probably the most important piece we ever had for those five Super Bowl runs. no wide receiver in history is ever going to beat this man’s records. and mind you he did all this in the ’80s and ’90s. He has a staggering 22,895 yards over the course of his entire career. For reference he is 5000 yards ahead of #2. No one is going to ever beat this record. It is so ungodly that it’s an untouchable record. But there’s more, He is the only 40 year old to ever get 1000 yards receiving and the only other person to have any yards as a 40 year old man is Tom Brady with 7. His touchdowns are getting touched anytime soon, his 49ers yards aren’t and especially not his receptions. 13 Time pro bowler 10 time first team All Pro two-time offensive player of the year and one time robbed NFL MVP. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest 49er of all time Jerry Rice.
That concludes our list of the greatest 49ers ever. It was obviously Jerry rice but we still had fun with it. We hope you enjoyed and follow us on socials for all of our 49ers content.