SF 49ers won Super Bowl XVI thanks to the late Fred Dean

The SF 49ers won their first Super Bowl in 1982 thanks largely to the pickup of Hall of Fame pass-rusher Fred Dean, who passed away this week.

While the SF 49ers‘ first Super Bowl victory in franchise history is largely remembered by how the team got there in the first place, namely the famous “Catch” by wide receiver Dwight Clark in the NFC Championship game versus the Dallas Cowboys, the lengthy path to the team’s first Lombardi Trophy has to include a number of other key players.

One of those, EDGE Fred Dean, sadly passed away from coronavirus, confirmed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, via NFL.com on Thursday morning.

He was 68 years old.

“I am heartbroken by the sudden passing of my dear friend, Fred Dean,” former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo said in a statement (h/t Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area). “He was a humble, kind and quiet giant, with a smile as big as he was. The greatness of the 49ers truly began with Fred’s arrival in San Francisco.”

Other former Niners players also expressed their sadness and sympathies on social media following the news:

https://twitter.com/Bgr8t/status/1316730417819648000

Dean, originally taken by the San Diego Chargers in Round 2 of the 1975 NFL Draft, was one of those essential pieces the upstart SF 49ers needed to add to make their first Super Bowl. After an exceptional seven-year span in San Diego, Dean was traded to San Francisco in 1981 and helped shore up what was already a budding Niners defense.

Those efforts would help him receive the 1981 Defensive Player of the Year award.

And that defense, of course, would be a pinnacle reason why the SF 49ers would go on to find victory in Super Bowl XVI. While the majority of focus fell on other players like Clark and a young quarterback, Joe Montana, Dean arguably was the true X-factor the Niners needed to get over the proverbial playoff hump.

Dean would have himself an exceptional career with San Francisco, too, winning another Super Bowl after the 1984 season. And that particular squad is often considered the best in Niners franchise history.

The year before, Dean recorded a career-best 17.5 sacks en route to his fifth Pro Bowl nomination. Dean has also made numerous all-time lists, including some of our own here at Niner Noise.

Dean was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008.