San Francisco 49ers' All-Time Super Bowl Team

Sep 10, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Vince Lombardi Trophies from San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl victories on display at Justin Herman Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Few teams have had more Super Bowl success than the San Francisco 49ers. As we approach Super Bowl 50, which 49ers have had the best performances on the biggest stage?

Hello, 49ers fans. We’d like to welcome you back to this piece from a year ago chronicling the best of Niners Super Bowl teams as the Falcons and Patriots gear up for Super Bowl LI.

The NFL is celebrating Super Bowl 50 this season. As part of that, they released the Super Bowl 50 Golden Team—a list of the best overall career performances in the Super Bowl. As expected, the San Francisco 49ers are well represented, with five players in the all-time starting lineup—Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Charles Haley, Deion Sanders and Ronnie Lott.

But why stop there? The 49ers have appeared in six Super Bowls spanning three different decades. That’s more than enough to create an all-time Super Bowl team for just the 49ers. What does their best of the best roster look like?

Like the NFL’s team, we’re just picking a starting roster, including three specialists. Unlike the NFL, we’re sticking with a 3-4 defense, as four of the 49ers’ six Super Bowl appearances featured ran that defense. We are primarily looking at performances during the Super Bowl itself, though in cases where that’s a close call, performances in the postseason leading up to the Super Bowls count for something.

Here is the all-time 49ers Super Bowl team as we approach the golden anniversary of the big game.

Montana, Lott and Rice all played great when the stage was largest. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Quarterback: Joe Montana
Super Bowl stats: 83-for-122; 1,142 yards; 11 touchdowns; 0 interceptions; 127.8 QB rating

I was briefly toyed with the idea of sticking Steve Young here; Young’s performance in Super Bowl XXIX is one of the greatest single-game performances of all time, topping one of the single greatest quarterback seasons in NFL history. Trevor Irvine of Niner Noise just called it the greatest 49er performance in playoff history, and he’s right on the money.

However, with all due respect, Montana is the greatest quarterback in Super Bowl history. Not only did he never turn the ball over, he was a three-time Super Bowl MVP. He racked up stats in blowouts in Super Bowls XIV and XXIV, and provided clutch play in close games, including the famous drive at the end of Super Bowl XXIII. Add in four rings as a starter compared to one for Young, and it’s just nearly impossible to bump Montana off the mountain.

Running Backs: Roger Craig, Ricky Watters
Craig’s Super Bowl stats: 52 carries, 198 yards; 20 receptions, 212 yards; four touchdowns
Watters’ Super Bowl stats: 15 carries, 47 yards; three receptions, 61 yards; three touchdowns

The top spot obviously has to go to Craig, who had over 100 combined yards in each of his three Super Bowl appearances. He never broke 100 yards rushing, but he did have 100 yards receiving against the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII.

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The second slot, however, is more up for debate. There’s an argument to be made for Tom Rathman, who is the only other back to play in multiple Super Bowls. Wendell Tyler started Super Bowl XIX and had 135 combined yards from scrimmage. Frank Gore is not only the 49ers all-time leading rusher, but the only 49er to have more than 100 rushing yards in a single Super Bowl.

In the end, though, I have to side with Watters. Four players have scored three touchdowns in a single Super Bowl, and both Craig and Watters are on that list. Watters’ production during Super Bowl XXIX sometimes gets lost in the shadow of Steve Young’s six touchdown passes, but Watters caught two of them, including a 51-yard reception which remains the longest play in 49ers’ Super Bowl history. That, plus actually winning a ring, is enough to overcome Gore’s larger role in getting the team to the Super Bowl.

Aug 8, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; Jerry Rice (left) and Steve Young during the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Wide Receivers: Jerry Rice, Dwight Clark
Rice’s Super Bowl stats: 28 receptions, 512 yards, seven touchdowns.
Clark’s Super Bowl stats: 10 receptions, 122 yards

The top spot is easy. Rice was Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXIII, is one of those four players with three touchdowns in a single contest, and he’s the only one to do it twice. In short, if you have an all-time team which doesn’t include Jerry Rice, something is probably off.

The second wide receiver spot, however, has some serious competition. John Taylor played in three Super Bowls of his own, including catching the game-winning touchdown at the end of Super Bowl XXIII. Freddie Solomon was also a multiple Super Bowl starter, though he only had five receptions. Michael Crabtree topped over 100 yards in the loss against Baltimore.

I opted to go with Dwight Clark instead. Clark was the 49ers’ lead receiver in both of the Super Bowl wins before Jerry Rice came to down, and of course, the 49ers wouldn’t have been in Super Bowl XVI had he not made The Catch in the NFC Championship two weeks before. He also caught all but three passes thrown his way, compared to the eight Taylor missed.

Taylor has the highlights, but Clark just had a more significant role as the lead receiver, and more total production. I also may sneak Taylor onto the team in another role in a few paragraphs, which makes it easier to pass him up here.

Tight End: Vernon Davis
Super Bowl stats: Six receptions, 104 yards

Brent Jones had the longer and more productive career with the 49ers, and his three Super Bowl rings to Davis’ zero nearly had me give him the edge here. However, Jones was not a particularly big-time performer in terms of receiving in Super Bowls; he had three receptions for 48 yards for his career. He made up for it with blocking prowess, but it doesn’t quite live up to Davis’ 100-yard day—a Super Bowl record for tight ends.

Offensive Line: Bubba Paris, Mike Iupati, Randy Cross, Guy McIntyre, Harris Barton

Since the 49ers had so many different linemen during their glory run in the ‘80s, there’s a number of very good players omitted—Jesse Sapolu perhaps being the most notable, but also the likes of Steve Wallace and Fred Quillan.

Bubba Paris earned three rings, with two of them coming as starting left tackle and the third seeing him forced into the lineup after Steve Wallace broke his ankle three plays in. He was the most frequent blindside blocker for Joe Montana, so he gets the left tackle slot.

At left guard, we give the 49ers’ premier run blocker in 2012, Mike Iupati. On the left side of the line, he and Joe Staley paved the way for Frank Gore’s 110 yards on the ground, with 77 of those yards coming to the left.

Randy Cross started Super Bowls at both right guard and center. We slide him to center here to make room for Guy McIntyre, who started Super Bowls at both right and left guard.

Finally, we have Harris Barton as our right tackle because, as Steve Young was left handed, Barton was actually the blindside protector during Super Bowl XXIX.

Defensive Line: Dwaine Board, Kevin Fagan and Michael Carter

Dwaine Board had a pair of sacks against Dan Marino in Super Bowl XIX, including one at the very beginning of the second half to cut off any hopes of a Dolphins comeback. Board also started Super Bowl XVI and was on the line for the famous goal line stand at the end of the third quarter. The other defensive end on this team is Kevin Fagan, who started both Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV, forcing a key Bobby Humphrey fumble against Denver and playing very well against Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz the year before.

Our nose tackle, Michael Carter played in the same two games as Fagan, clogging up the middle and bringing Boomer Esiason down for a sack in Cincinnati, as well as picking up a Super Bowl ring as a reserve in 1984, making him the only person to win an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl ring in the same year.

The 49ers may have lost, but Patrick Willis still played great against Baltimore. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Linebackers: Keena Turner, Charles Haley, Patrick Willis and Jack Reynolds

Charles Haley made the all-time Super Bowl team at defensive end, but he was more of an outside linebacker in San Francisco’s system, so we’re slotting him there on our squad. Haley had two sacks against Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXXIII. He’s joined on the outside by Keena Turner, one of the few players on all four of San Francisco’s Super Bowl teams in the 1980s. Turner was the only linebacker on the field for much of the game against Miami, as the 49ers switched to a 4-1-6 defense to counter Dan Marino for most of the game.

Patrick Willis played brilliantly in defeat in Super Bowl XLVII, shutting down the run game and allowing only one reception for minus-3 yards. We could easily put NaVorro Bowman here next to him, but instead we’ll go back to the early days of the 1980s and put in Hacksaw Jack Reynolds. Reynolds started both of San Franciso’s first two Super Bowls, but played a bigger role in Super Bowl XVI, where he recorded a sack and was involved on two of the four stops on the big fourth-down stand late in the third quarter.

Secondary: Deion Sanders, Eric Wright, Ronnie Lott and Carlton Williamson

It’s amazing that Ronnie Lott didn’t record a single interception in a Super Bowl, but you try telling his four rings that he doesn’t make the all-time Super Bowl team. We’re starting him at free safety here, but he played two of his four games at cornerback. He’s joined at safety by Carlton Williamson, who picked Dan Marino off from the strong safety position in Super Bowl XIX.

Deion Sanders doesn’t belong on the general 49ers all-time team because he was only on the squad for one season. However, that season culminated in a Super Bowl appearance, where he played well, intercepting a pass late. He even got to play offense for a few snaps! The other cornerback slot will go to Eric Wright who has four Super Bowl rings of his own, including a key interception against Ken Anderson in Super Bowl XVI.

Specialists: Ray Wersching, Jim Miller, John Taylor

Ray Wersching kicked five field goals in his two Super Bowls, though four of them came inside the 20 yard line. His long of 40 yards is pipped out by Mike Cofer’s 41-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXIII, but Cofer missed a 19-yarder and is pretty much automatically disqualified.

Jim Miller punted four times in Super Bowl XVI, with all his punts traveling at least 44 yards and all taking place inside his own 10 yard line, making them crucial for field position. That just beats out Andy Lee’s superior average on only three punts, as well as Barry Helton’s eight total punts.

If Ted Ginn had returned Sam Koch’s safety kick for a game-winning touchdown at the end of Super Bowl XLVII, as it looked for one shining moment like he might, he would be here, hands down. Instead, we get to sneak John Taylor back onto the team after cutting him from the wide receiver portion. Taylor still holds the record for most career punt return yards with 94, with 56 of them coming against the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII, and 45 of those coming on the Super Bowl-record 45-yard return he had in that game.

Coach: Bill Walsh

Who else could it be? The first three Super Bowls were all Walsh, of course, and George Seifert’s first title was mostly won by Walsh’s players. Seifert’s second title proved he could do more than caretake Walsh’s legacy. Jim Harbaugh is third by default, with the only loss in 49ers Super Bowl history.

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Bryan Knowles is a staff writer here at Niner Noise. Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.

San Francisco 49ers’ All-Time Super Bowl Team

By Bryan Knowles | Feb 5, 2017

Few teams have had more Super Bowl success than the San Francisco 49ers. As we approach Super Bowl 50, which 49ers have had the best performances on the biggest stage?

More from Niner Noise