San Francisco 49ers: 5 most forgotten quarterbacks in team history

49ers Forgotten QB No. 4: Norm Snead

Niners Tenure: 1974-1975

The mid-to-late 1970s weren’t exactly a fruitful time for San Francisco fans, as the team had gone from regular playoff contenders earlier in the decade to becoming quite the laughingstock of the league to the latter half.

And while the 49ers would eventually settle on quarterback Steve DeBerg, who served as a bridge and mentor to the Hall of Famer, Joe Montana, it took a number of less-than-notable quarterbacks to get there.

Including Norm Snead.

Snead actually had a lengthy career in the NFL, which included leading the league in interceptions four times over his 17-year pro tenure. That’s a bit of an oddity in itself. But, hey, let’s give credit to Snead hanging around despite the lofty number of turnovers (257) tossed over his career. He did have three Pro Bowls to his credit after all.

The Niners acquired Snead in a trade with the New York Giants in 1974 when he was 35 years old, and he’d finish his brief two-season tenure in San Francisco with a lowly 2-6 record before going back to the Giants in 1976.

Of note, Snead was the first quarterback in NFL history to lose 100 games and the last one to post a 0.0 passer rating in a win.

Odd. And probably forgotten by 49ers fans.