The Greatest San Francisco 49ers Players of All Time
The San Francisco 49ers won 5 Super Bowls in 14 seasons, and how much those rings count when you rank their greatest players is for you to decide. Every player here is named on at least 5 of the 13 49ers honor rolls and all-time rankings counted for this list: the team's own Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and eleven press rankings. Players left off no more than three of the sources that could have named them start in the top group; everyone else who clears the door starts below them, and your votes set the order from there.
Joe Montana is #1 on “The Greatest San Francisco 49ers Players of All Time”.
- 1
Joe Montana
Super Bowl XXIV ended San Francisco 55, Denver 10, a margin no Super Bowl has matched; he threw for 297 yards and 5 scores, a Super Bowl record then, and was named its MVP. It was his 4th Super Bowl title in a 49ers career that ran 14 seasons, 1979 through 1992, and all 13 of the 13 sources tallied here name him. That 1989 season was his best: a 112.4 passer rating, higher than any NFL passer had managed over a full year up to then, and the league's MVP award, which came his way again in 1990. San Francisco retired his number 16 at halftime of a Monday night game against Denver, the team he had beaten in Super Bowl XXIV, on December 15, 1997.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Montana - 2
Ronnie Lott
Rather than risk missing the start of the 1986 season, he let doctors amputate the crushed tip of his left pinky, smashed while he was tackling running back Timmy Newsome, since a bone graft would have kept him out. A 49er from 1981, he played left cornerback first, moved to safety in 1985 and stayed through 1990. With the shortened finger he picked off 10 passes in 1986, more than anybody else in the league. His 51 interceptions as a 49er are a franchise record, he collected 4 Super Bowl rings in San Francisco, and his whole career earned him a place on the NFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. You won't find a counted source without him: 13 of 13.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Lott - 3
Jerry Rice
In the strike-shortened 1987 season he caught 22 touchdown passes in 12 games, breaking the NFL's mark for a season. The 49ers had picked him 16th in 1985, out of Mississippi Valley State, and his 49ers career lasted through 2000. A season after that touchdown run he was MVP of Super Bowl XXIII, catching 11 passes for 215 yards as Cincinnati lost 20-16. Every one of his 10 first-team All-Pro picks came in a 49ers jersey, and he won 3 Super Bowls there. Add his seasons after San Francisco and the NFL's all-time marks for receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown catches are his, and every source counted here, 13 of 13, has him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Rice - 4
Steve Young
On October 30, 1988, against Minnesota, he hit John Taylor for a 73-yard touchdown and then scrambled 49 yards to score, and that touchdown decided it 24-21. Tampa Bay had traded him to San Francisco in April 1987, he stayed 13 seasons, 1987 through 1999, and 12 of 13 sources carry his name. Lose that game and the 49ers go 9-7 and sit out the playoffs; win it, and they finished the year as Super Bowl champions. AP voters made him NFL MVP in 1992 and 1994, and in 1994 his 112.8 passer rating set the league's single-season mark, which has since been passed. A severe concussion in a Monday night game at Arizona on September 27, 1999, ended his career.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Young - 5
Frank Gore
His 1,695 rushing yards in 2006 are the 49ers' single-season record, set in his 2nd year. San Francisco drafted him in the 3rd round in 2005 and gave him the ball for 10 seasons, through 2014, and 11 of 13 sources name him. In 2011, in a game against the St. Louis Rams, he climbed past every earlier 49er in career rushing yards. Those 10 seasons brought 5 Pro Bowls, and the 2012 season ended for him in Super Bowl XLVII, where he ran 19 times for 110 yards and a touchdown in a 34-31 loss to Baltimore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gore - 6
Roger Craig
Nobody had scored 3 touchdowns in a Super Bowl until he did it in XIX against Miami, a 38-16 San Francisco win. His 49ers years ran from 1983 through 1990, brought 3 Super Bowl rings and put him on 12 of 13 sources. In 1985 he ran for 1,050 yards and caught 92 passes for 1,016 more, the first running back over 1,000 both ways in a single season. His career-high 1,502 rushing yards came in 1988, along with the AP's award for the year's top offensive player. The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Senior Committee route put him in its class of 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Craig_(American_football) - 7
Patrick Willis
As a 2007 rookie he topped the NFL with 174 tackles and took the defensive rookie award, and the 49ers' own unofficial count put him past 200. Ole Miss sent him to San Francisco as that draft's 11th pick, and he was the 49ers' linebacker for 8 seasons, through 2014. That rookie year opened a 7-year Pro Bowl streak, 2007 through 2013; All-Pro first teams named him for 2007 and for the 4 seasons from 2009 to 2012. In 2008 he intercepted Seattle and ran it back 86 yards for a touchdown. Pro Football Hall of Fame voters chose him in 2024, his 5th year of eligibility, and 10 of the 13 sources back him. A toe injury had cost him most of 2014, and he announced his retirement on March 10, 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Willis - 8
Terrell Owens
For most of the wild-card game against Green Bay on January 3, 1999, he was the story for the wrong reasons: a fumble and 4 dropped passes. Then Steve Young stumbled at the snap and threw anyway, and Owens, a 49er since San Francisco took him 89th overall out of Chattanooga in 1996, caught it for a 25-yard touchdown with 3 seconds left and a 30-27 win. On December 17, 2000, he caught 20 passes for 283 yards against Chicago, breaking a single-game catch record Tom Fears had held for 50 years, and All-Pro first-team selectors chose him in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He appears on 11 of the 12 sources eligible to include him; Heavy.com's 2024 ranking focused on players who excelled more with the 49ers than elsewhere and left him out on that ground.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrell_Owens - 9
Jimmy Johnson
The 1962 49ers lined him up at flanker, and he had 34 receptions for 626 yards, among them an 80-yard game-winner against the Bears that was then the longest scoring pass the franchise had thrown. All 16 of his NFL seasons, 1961 through 1976, were spent in San Francisco, and 10 of the 13 sources name him. Outside that receiving year he was a cornerback; he intercepted 47 passes, the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him in 1994, and he died in May 2024. From 1969 through 1972 he made first-team All-Pro 4 years running, and Pro Bowl voters sent him to 5 of their games.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Johnson_(cornerback) - 10
Charles Haley
The 1990 season brought him 16 sacks, 3rd in the league, consensus All-Pro honors and UPI's NFC defensive award. His first 49ers stretch ran from 1986 to 1991, and as a rookie outside linebacker out of James Madison he had 12 sacks, 2nd among first-year players, with Pro Football Weekly and UPI both putting him on their All-Rookie teams. That stretch covered the Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV titles, with Pro Bowls in 1988, 1990 and 1991. After 5 seasons in Dallas and almost 2 years out of football, he signed again on January 2, 1999, to give an injury-thinned line some depth for the playoffs; he added 3 sacks in 1999 and is listed by 9 of 13 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Haley - 11
Bryant Young
He had 11.5 sacks and 2 safeties in 1996, a share of the NFL's season record for safeties, and was an All-Pro first-teamer and a Pro Bowler for the first time. Notre Dame's defensive tackle had gone 7th overall to San Francisco in 1994, and he never wore another NFL uniform over 14 seasons, through 2007; his rookie year ended with a Super Bowl XXIX ring. A leg broken on a Monday night against the Giants in 1998 needed a rod, and he was back for 1999 with 11 sacks and a safety, a Pro Bowl and the league's comeback award. His 3 career safeties are a franchise record, and he won the Len Eshmont Award 8 times. He went into Canton with the class of 2022, with 8 of 13 rankings and honor rolls including him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryant_Young - 12
Joe Perry
Frankie Albert couldn't get the handoff to him in time at his first 49ers practices, told him he was like a jet, and the name stuck. That was 1948, when the AAFC club signed him off a Navy service team and made him the franchise's first African-American player; he played there through 1960, came back for 1963, and is named on 7 of 13 sources. He ran for 1,018 yards in 1953 and 1,049 in 1954, the first player to top 1,000 rushing yards in consecutive seasons, and the United Press named him its Pro Player of the Year for 1954, 15 years before the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him. His career rushing total in a 49ers uniform stood as the club record until 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Perry_(American_football) - 13
Leo Nomellini
In the 49ers' first NFL win, 28-27 over Detroit on October 22, 1950, he tipped the Lions' extra-point try as the 4th quarter ran down, and the kick fell short. Born in Lucca, Italy, and a Marine Corps veteran, the rookie gave San Francisco 14 seasons, 1950 through 1963. The 49ers had made him their first pick as an NFL team, 11th overall, and he entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. All-NFL teams picked him 6 times, twice on offense and 4 times on defense, he collected 10 Pro Bowl selections and a place on the league's 1950s All-Decade Team, and 6 of 13 sources count him. In the offseason he wrestled as Leo the Lion, and he once beat Lou Thesz in a 2-out-of-3-falls match without getting the title, because the 1st fall came by disqualification.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Nomellini - 14
Bob St. Clair
At 6 feet 9, he played offensive tackle for the 49ers for 11 seasons, 1953 through 1963, after the club made him its 3rd-round choice, 32nd overall, in the 1953 draft. His reach paid off on special teams: he blocked 19 field goals in his career, 10 of them in 1956. He went to 5 Pro Bowls, and 6 of 13 sources include him; his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction came in 1990. Teammates called him the Geek, in part for eating raw meat to rattle rookies, and he was mayor of Daly City in 1961 and 1962. Kezar Stadium was home at every level, hosting all his high school and pro home games and 3 quarters of his college ones, and San Francisco renamed the field for him in 2001, the year the 49ers retired number 79.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_St._Clair - 15
Dave Wilcox
In 1973 he made 104 solo tackles, forced 4 fumbles and dropped ball carriers for a loss 13 times, by the Pro Football Hall of Fame's own count. Oregon produced him, the 49ers made him a round-3 selection in 1964, and he picked them over the AFL's Houston Oilers, then played linebacker in San Francisco through 1974. Once he moved to outside linebacker he was known as the Intimidator, and in his whole career he missed 1 game to injury. Canton elected him in 2000, 6 of 13 sources list him, and he died in April 2023. He was picked for the Pro Bowl in 1966 and in every year from 1968 through 1973, 7 times in all, and he intercepted 14 passes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Wilcox - 16
Fred Dean
A contract dispute with San Diego's owner sent him to the 49ers in 1981, and he rushed passers for them through 1985. That first season he had 12 sacks in 11 games, UPI gave him its NFC defensive award, and San Francisco won Super Bowl XVI. On November 13, 1983, he sacked the Saints 6 times in a 27-0 shutout, a league mark for a single game at the time, and that year's career-high 17.5 sacks led the NFC. Super Bowl XIX brought him a 2nd ring. His name turns up on 5 of the 13 sources, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2008 class included him, 12 years before he died of COVID-19 in October 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dean - 17
Hugh McElhenny
In his 4th pro game he returned a Bears punt for a score, and the nickname the King came out of the locker room afterward. Washington's star back had gone 9th overall to the 49ers in 1952, and he stayed a 49er through 1960. That rookie season he averaged 7.0 yards a carry, the best in the league, was the unanimous choice as its top rookie and began a 49ers run that held 5 Pro Bowl berths and 5 first-team selections from the All-Pro voters. 5 of 13 sources make room for him, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined him in 1970. From 1954 he shared the Million Dollar Backfield with Y. A. Tittle, Joe Perry and John Henry Johnson, all 4 of them later Hall of Famers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_McElhenny - 18
Dwight Clark
The Clemson receiver lasted until the 10th round of the 1979 draft, 249th overall, and the 49ers kept him through 1987. On January 10, 1982, Dallas led the NFC Championship Game 27-21 with 58 seconds left. On 3rd-and-3, Joe Montana threw to the back of the end zone, where Clark caught it for a 6-yard touchdown that tied the game, which San Francisco won 28-27 before going on to win Super Bowl XVI. In the strike-shortened 1982 season his 60 catches topped the NFL and won him a place on that year's All-Pro first team, and 5 of the 13 lists and honor rolls count him. The 49ers retired number 87 in 1988, and he died of ALS in June 2018, a year after announcing the diagnosis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Clark
How this list was ranked
Readers rank this list by voting items up and down. Items are ordered by reader votes.
0 comments
Related lists
The Greatest Green Bay Packers Players of All Time
Sports
The Greatest Chicago Bears Players of All Time
Sports
The Greatest Miami Dolphins Players of All Time
Sports
The Greatest Cleveland Browns Players of All Time
Sports
The Greatest Minnesota Vikings Players of All Time
Sports
The Greatest Pittsburgh Steelers Players of All Time
Sports