This San Francisco 49ers trivia quiz has 80 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 80 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year were the 49ers founded as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference?
1946
The AAFC lasted only four seasons; when it folded, the 49ers, Browns and original Baltimore Colts were the three clubs absorbed into the NFL.
Q 02The team's name honors which group of people?
Gold seekers who came to California in 1849
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
The old ground sits in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park and later hosted Jim Marshall's famous wrong-way run in 1964.
Q 04In what year did the 49ers move into Candlestick Park?
1971
The Beatles had already played their last full public concert there in August 1966, five years before the football team arrived.
Q 05Levi's Stadium, the 49ers' home since 2014, is located in which city?
Santa Clara
The venue sits about 38 miles southeast of San Francisco, and the team has been headquartered nearby since 1988.
Q 06Levi's Stadium officially opened in which year?
2014
Commissioner Roger Goodell used the grand opening to hint that the stadium would also make a fine home for the Raiders.
Q 07Which was the first Super Bowl played at Levi's Stadium?
50
The Broncos beat the Panthers 24-10 that night, with Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars sharing the halftime stage.
Q 08In 2016, Levi's Stadium converted 6,500 square feet of its green roof into what?
A rooftop farm
The stadium was believed to be the first with both a green roof and solar panels, and it earned LEED Gold as new construction.
Q 09Bill Walsh's innovative play design earned him which nickname?
The Genius
Walsh's coaching tree runs through George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid and Jon Gruden, among many others.
Q 10Walsh developed what became known as the West Coast offense while an assistant with which team?
Cincinnati Bengals
The label was originally applied to Don Coryell's very different Air Coryell system, and Walsh was irritated by the journalistic mix-up.
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
He was the first player to win the award three times and still holds the record of 122 Super Bowl pass attempts without an interception.
Q 13What name is given to Joe Montana's 1979 Cotton Bowl comeback, played while hypothermic?
The Chicken Soup Game
His body temperature dropped to 96 degrees in the second quarter before he rallied the Irish past Houston.
Q 21How many touchdown passes did Steve Young throw in Super Bowl XXIX, setting a record?
6
The record he broke belonged to Joe Montana, the man he had replaced, and he was also the league MVP that season.
Q 22The 49ers' left-handed Hall of Fame quarterback descends from which historical figure?
Brigham Young
He 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
The team retired it at halftime of a game against the Patriots in October 2008.
What did Ronnie Lott have amputated after the 1985 season rather than miss the start of 1986?
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
He had worn 19 in youth football, and Len Dawson later offered to let him wear the retired 16 in Kansas City.
Q 16Jerry Rice played his college football at which school?
Mississippi Valley State
Coach Archie Cooley, nicknamed The Gunslinger, ran a pass-heavy attack that lined 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
The mark stood until Calvin Johnson broke it in 2012, and Rice also passed Art Monk for the career receptions lead that same day.
Q 18Which jersey number did the 49ers retire for Rice in 2010?
80
In Seattle he wore the same number with Steve Largent's blessing, since it had already been retired there.
Q 19Which two teams did Rice play for after leaving the 49ers?
Raiders and Seahawks
The Raiders traded him six games into 2004 for a seventh-round pick, reuniting him with former 49ers coordinator Mike Holmgren.
Q 20Before joining the NFL, Steve Young played two seasons for which USFL team?
Los Angeles Express
His head coach there was John Hadl, who had shepherded John Elway through his rookie NFL year.
Tip of his left pinky
Years later he admitted regretting the choice, saying he should simply have had the finger fixed.
Q 25Ronnie Lott was a consensus All-American at which university?
USC
As a rookie in 1981 he intercepted seven passes and returned three for touchdowns, only the second rookie ever to do so.
Q 26Dwight Clark, who made The Catch, was drafted by the 49ers in which round of the 1979 draft?
Tenth
His first love was basketball, and at Clemson he caught only 33 passes in his whole college career.
Q 27The Catch beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship Game by what final score?
28-27
The play was officially called Change Left Slot - Sprint Right Option and was designed as a quick throw to Freddie Solomon.
Q 28Which Cowboys defender was covering Clark on The Catch?
Everson Walls
Walter Iooss Jr.'s photo of the leaping grab, with the defender reaching in vain, ran on the cover of Sports Illustrated the next week.
Q 29Super Bowl XVI, the 49ers' first title, was played in which venue?
Pontiac Silverdome
It was the first Super Bowl in a cold-weather city, reportedly a league reward to Detroit's automakers for years of sponsorship.
Q 30Super Bowl XIX, a 38-16 win over Miami, was the first played in the Bay Area, at which venue?
Stanford Stadium
The venue was chosen despite having no lights, no dressing rooms and a substandard press box at the time.