Niner Noise
FanSided

San Francisco 49ers: 5 biggest villains in franchise history

By Peter Panacy

1 Nov 1998: Quarterback Brett Favre #4 of the Green Bay Packers in action during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the 49ers 36-22. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
1 Nov 1998: Quarterback Brett Favre #4 of the Green Bay Packers in action during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the 49ers 36-22. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Lawrence Taylor #56, Linebacker the New York Giants during the National Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Rams on 12 November1989 at the Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California, United States. The Rams won the game 31 – 10. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
Lawrence Taylor #56, Linebacker the New York Giants during the National Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Rams on 12 November1989 at the Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California, United States. The Rams won the game 31 – 10. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images) /

Niner Noise goes back through San Francisco 49ers history and explores the five players from other teams around the NFL Niners fans love to hate the most.

The San Francisco 49ers are fortunate enough to have boasted some of the best players ever to play at the NFL level.

These players have turned in some memorable moments and incredible seasons. Yet the Niners have also been victims of some cringeworthy memories over the years.

And there are more than a few opposing players responsible for such memories.

During the 1970s, the Dallas Cowboys embarrassed the 49ers on more than one occasion, rediscovering that longtime rivalry again in the 1990s. During that same decade, the Green Bay Packers were easily categorized into a team Niners fans loved to beat.

In between, particularly late in the 1980s, the New York Giants angered the Faithful on more than one occasion.

Most recently, of course, those Seattle Seahawks proved to be the bane of Niners fans everywhere.

But behind the teams, there are typically individuals standing out who command vitriol above all else. Those are the guys we’ll focus on here, breaking down the five rival players San Francisco fans should consider the all-time villains.

No. 5: Linebacker Lawrence Taylor, New York Giants

The Giants and 49ers had some tremendous rivalry moments during the 1980s and early 1990s, and there are certainly a few players to pick from the other side here.

But the one standing out the most is pass-rushing linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who was one of the most dominant defenders in the NFL during his 13-year career. The Hall of Famer had his share of off-field character issues, cocaine abuse and statutory rape. Against the Niners, though, he remained about as big an on-field villain there can be.

Particularly when he was the player to recover Niners running back Roger Craig’s costly fumble during the 1991 NFC Championship game that ultimately denied the Niners a third trip to the Super Bowl.

Ironically, Taylor once noted how much he hated playing the 49ers.

“I hate playing the 49ers because they play a short drop, ball-control offense and they really don’t take a lot of chances,” Taylor noted back in 1986, via UPI Archives. “That’s when you can hurt a team, when they take a gamble.

“It makes it difficult to play when you’re high-strung and ready to go and forced to play patiently.”

That doesn’t change Niners fans’ sentiments about Taylor at all, though. They hated seeing him on the field and probably didn’t care for him off of it either.