49ers Trivia
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This San Francisco 49ers trivia quiz has 78 free questions with answers and runs the full history of the franchise, from its 1946 founding in the All-America Football Conference and the Gold Rush prospectors behind the name to the Levi's Stadium era of Kyle Shanahan, Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa and Brock Purdy. Along the way you will hit Bill Walsh and the West Coast offense, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Ronnie Lott, Dwight Clark and The Catch, and every one of the five Super Bowl wins. There are questions for casual fans (which number did Montana wear?) and for the Faithful who have been around since Kezar and Candlestick (who nicknamed Hugh McElhenny The King?). Expect rivalries with the Cowboys, Rams and Seahawks, the 1994 season, the 2019 and 2023 Super Bowl runs, Sourdough Sam and a few genuinely obscure old-timers. Every answer was checked against primary sources, mainly Wikipedia and official team and league pages, so you can settle arguments with confidence. Play through, see your score, and pass it along to the rest of your group chat.
30 of 78 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The 49ers began play in 1946 as charter members of which league?
All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference was the 49ers' first home; the league lasted four seasons, and when it folded after 1949 the 49ers, Browns and original Baltimore Colts were absorbed into the NFL.
Q 02The team's name honors which group of people?
Gold seekers who came to California in 1849
Gold seekers who came to California in 1849 inspired the name; the original logo showed a mustached miner in plaid pants leaping in midair and firing two pistols, one nearly shooting his own foot.
Q 03Where did the 49ers play their home games from 1946 through 1970?
Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium, in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park, was the 49ers' home for their first 25 seasons and the scene of Jim Marshall's famous wrong-way run in 1964.
Q 04In what year did the 49ers move into Candlestick Park?
1971
1971 brought the 49ers to Candlestick Park; the Beatles had played their last full public concert there on August 29, 1966, five years before the football team arrived.
Q 05Levi's Stadium, the 49ers' home field, is located in which city?
Santa Clara
Santa Clara, about 40 miles southeast of San Francisco, has been the 49ers' headquarters since 1988, and the stadium rose next to the team's practice facility.
Q 06Who was the 49ers' first head coach?
Buck Shaw
Buck Shaw coached the 49ers from their first season through 1954, then later won the 1960 NFL championship with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Q 07Which was the first Super Bowl played at Levi's Stadium?
50
Super Bowl 50 was played there on February 7, 2016, with Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars sharing the halftime stage; the 49ers themselves were not in it.
Q 08In 2016, Levi's Stadium converted 6,500 square feet of its green roof into what?
A rooftop farm
A rooftop farm of about 6,500 square feet went in atop the stadium's suite tower in 2016, growing produce for the concessions; the building had already earned LEED Gold certification.
Q 09Bill Walsh's innovative play design earned him which nickname?
The Genius
The Genius was the press's name for Walsh, whose scripted opening plays and short-passing scheme won three Super Bowls; his coaching tree runs through Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid and Jon Gruden.
Q 10Walsh developed what became known as the West Coast offense while an assistant with which team?
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals assistant Walsh built the short, timing-based passing game in the early 1970s to suit quarterback Virgil Carter; the 'West Coast' label was first applied to Don Coryell's very different system.
Q 11In which round of the 1979 draft did the 49ers select Joe Montana?
Third
He went 82nd overall, and Walsh's other draft finds included Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley and Jerry Rice, all now in Canton.
Q 12How many times was Joe Montana named Super Bowl MVP?
3
3 Super Bowl MVP awards (XVI, XIX and XXIV) made Montana the first player to win it three times; he also threw 122 Super Bowl passes without an interception, a record.
Q 13What name is given to Joe Montana's 1979 Cotton Bowl comeback, played while hypothermic?
The Chicken Soup Game
The Chicken Soup Game got its name from the bouillon the team doctor fed Montana at halftime; his temperature had dropped to 96 degrees before he rallied Notre Dame past Houston 35-34.
Q 21How many touchdown passes did Steve Young throw in Super Bowl XXIX, setting a record?
6
6 touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXIX broke Joe Montana's record of five from five years earlier; Young, the 1994 league MVP, also won the game's MVP award.
Q 22The 49ers' left-handed Hall of Fame quarterback descends from which historical figure?
Brigham Young
Brigham Young, the Mormon leader who led settlers to Utah in 1847, was Steve Young's great-great-great-grandfather; Young also became the first left-handed quarterback elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 2005.
Q 23Steve Young is the only player in 49ers history to have worn which jersey number?
8
8 was retired at halftime of an October 2008 game against the Patriots; Young had worn it since arriving from Tampa Bay in 1987.
Q 14Which team acquired Montana in a 1993 trade?
Kansas City Chiefs
He vetoed a deal to Phoenix that would have brought the fourth overall pick, then led his new club to its first AFC Championship Game.
Q 15Which jersey number did the 49ers retire for Montana in 1997?
16
16 was retired by the 49ers in 1997; at his final stop the number already belonged to Hall of Famer Len Dawson, who offered to un-retire it, but Montana chose 19 instead.
Q 16Jerry Rice played his college football at which school?
Mississippi Valley State
Mississippi Valley State, a Division I-AA school in Itta Bena, was where coach Archie Cooley, nicknamed The Gunslinger, ran a pass-heavy attack lining up four receivers on one side of the field.
Q 17How many receiving yards did Rice record in 1995, then an NFL single-season record?
1,848
1,848 receiving yards in 1995 set the single-season record, which stood until Calvin Johnson's 1,964 in 2012; Rice caught 122 passes that year for 15 touchdowns.
Q 18Which jersey number did the 49ers retire for Rice in 2010?
80
80 was retired by the 49ers in 2010, the year Rice entered the Hall of Fame on the first ballot; he wore the number in every regular season of his career.
Q 19Which two teams did Rice play for after leaving the 49ers?
Raiders and Seahawks
Raiders and Seahawks: Oakland signed him in 2001, then traded him to Seattle six games into 2004 for a seventh-round pick, reuniting him with former 49ers coordinator Mike Holmgren; he retired before playing a regular-season game for another club.
Q 20Before joining the NFL, Steve Young played two seasons for which USFL team?
Los Angeles Express
Los Angeles Express signed Young in 1984 to a famously huge contract, reported at about $40 million paid out over 43 years; his head coach there was John Hadl, who had tutored rookie John Elway the year before.
Q 24What did Ronnie Lott have amputated after the 1985 season rather than miss the start of 1986?
Tip of his left pinky
Tip of his left pinky: the finger was crushed tackling Timmy Newsome in December 1985, and rather than miss the 1986 opener he had the top amputated; years later he said he should have just had it fixed.
Q 25Ronnie Lott was a consensus All-American at which university?
USC
USC made Lott a consensus All-American in 1980 before the 49ers took him eighth overall; as a rookie in 1981 he intercepted seven passes and returned three for touchdowns.
Q 26Dwight Clark, who made The Catch, was drafted by the 49ers in which round of the 1979 draft?
Tenth
Tenth round, 249th overall, was where the 49ers took Clark in 1979, after Walsh noticed him at Clemson while scouting quarterback Steve Fuller; he had caught just 33 passes in college.
Q 27The Catch beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship Game by what final score?
28-27
28-27 was the final after Montana's pass to Clark with 51 seconds left; the play, Sprint Right Option, was designed as a quick throw to Freddie Solomon.
Q 28Which Cowboys defender was covering Clark on The Catch?
Everson Walls
Everson Walls, a rookie cornerback, was the defender reaching in vain in Walter Iooss Jr.'s photo of the grab, which ran on the next week's Sports Illustrated cover.
Q 29Super Bowl XVI, the 49ers' first title, was played in which venue?
Pontiac Silverdome
Pontiac Silverdome hosted the first Super Bowl in a cold-weather city, in January 1982, and the 49ers won 26-21 indoors for their first title.
Q 30Super Bowl XIX, a 38-16 win over Miami, was the first played in the Bay Area, at which venue?
Stanford Stadium
Stanford Stadium, a horseshoe opened in 1921, had no permanent lights and no locker rooms suited to the NFL, so temporary facilities were brought in for the January 1985 game.