Credit: Manny Rubio-US PRESSWIRE

The San Francisco 49ers and 49ers Faithful lost former wide receiver Freddie Solomon to complications from colon and liver cancer.  Solomon played with the 49ers from 1978-1985 and was instrumental in the team winning its first two Super Bowl rings.  Solomon died on February 13 at the age of 59 in Tampa, Florida. He was diagnosed with cancer in November.

Solomon was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round in 1975 and he was traded to the 49ers in 1978. The former wide receiver had his best season in 1981 with 59 receptions for 969 yards and eight touchdowns.  Solomon is most famous for being the receiver Joe Montana was supposed to throw to on “The Catch”.  Freddie slipped coming off the line of scrimmage which caused Montana to scramble, finding Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone.

Solomon remained a starter with the 49ers until the 1985 season, when Jerry Rice was drafted.  He played in 114 games over eight years with 310 receptions, 4,873 receiving yards and 43 touchdowns for the 49ers.  Although Solomon is most famous in 49ers lore for being a wide receiver, he was a good kick/punt returner as well.

Here is a statement from former owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. who was a close friend of Solomon’s:

I am deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend Freddie Solomon today. My heart goes out to Dee, his family, the 49ers football family, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office and football fans everywhere.

Freddie and I have been friends for 35 years, and he was one of the most gentle and best men I have ever met in my life. Scores of generations will remember Freddie through their children and the youth he’s helped over all these decades. I have never met a man who cared so much about the human race, and there will never be another Freddie.

• Steve Mariucci 2000-2002: (It was a good hire but it was the Joke’s first hire and they were in full sale mode to save as much money under the cap as possible. Remember GM Terry Donahue? He got rid of Jeff Garcia and he spent $19 million of guaranteed on CB Ahmed Plummer and RB Kevan Barlow. Great moves! This eliminated the chances of the 49ers being successful although they did make the playoffs twice under Mariucci but still fired him nonetheless.)
• Dennis Erickson 2003- 2004 (Oh geez. I have tried to block these seasons out of my mind.)
• Mike Nolan 2005-2008 (They gave a first time head coach full control of personnel moves when he had no experience making such moves. Highlight: Drafting Alex Smith. The Joke’s fired Nolan one season too late.)
• Mike Singletary (Let’s hope they finally got it right. But remember Scot Millen McCloughan is still the GM. He was right there with and just as responsible as Nolan for the bad moves they made.)

My whole point is being successful starts at the top. You have to not only know what you are doing but you have to actually care about putting a winning football team on the field. The NFL is a business but I think the Joke’s put business first far too often before hiring good coaches and GM’s in order to sign and draft great players. The Steelers have won two Super Bowl in the last four years with two different coaches. No question the Steelers have a solid Front Office because of their years of experience in the league. Hopefully the Joke’s were asking themselves how can we get the 49ers to another Super Bowl win.