10 traits that set 49ers fans apart from rest of the NFL

Us 49ers fans are a bit of a different breed. Whether you’re from the Bay Area or somewhere around the globe, you adhere to these 10 unique traits.

We here at FanSided like to have a little fun from time to time, and it’s always a good distraction getting away from discussing who the San Francisco 49ers’ third-string long-snapper should be or which prospect the Niners may prefer in the 2042 NFL Draft decades from now.

Don’t worry, if third-string long-snappers are your thing, we’ll get you covered soon. But instead, let’s shift the focus a little bit and self-identify exactly what makes a 49ers fan a, well… 49ers fan.

There are plenty of things that separate the Faithful from the other 31 teams across the league.

And while every other team’s fanbase has its own unique elements, we here at Niner Noise feel these 10 attributes are what strongly keep fans of the red and gold in an entirely different category than the rest of the NFL.

We’re proud of it, too.

No. 10: 49ers’ red and gold are sacred colors

Few things identify sports fans as much as the colors they wear, and the Niners are fortunate enough to be blessed with (what we certainly would agree) the best color scheme in all of professional sports.

Seriously, nothing beats that bright fire-engine red with the gold pants and white trim.

For most San Francisco fans, that classic color scheme goes far beyond sports. It’ll carry over to favorite car colors, decor in a room setting, personal wardrobe and so much more.

The red and gold are sacred colors in this regard. And while other teams’ fanbases, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers, try claiming their own colors as definable, none quite have that luster of gold.

Mostly red, too. Let’s not overlook that.

No. 9: Don’t call it ‘San Fran’ or ‘Frisco’

Maybe it’s specifically a San Francisco thing for residents only who live there. Yet it’s not hard to find fans living outside The City to get a little upset when someone refers to San Francisco by one of two not-so-acceptable terms:

• San Fran
• Frisco

Last we checked, Frisco is a city in Texas.

At any rate, there have been some 49ers players over the years who have mistakenly referred to San Francisco as “Frisco” or “San Fran,” only to receive some polite corrections from the Faithful.

However, don’t expect Niners fans anywhere around the globe to be too friendly to those who continuously say as much without realizing it’s not even close to the “City by the Bay’s” nickname.

No. 8: Bill Walsh is the greatest head coach of all time

OK, so there are going to be plenty of fanbases out there who disagree, and there are likely plenty of well-respected NFL historians and analysts who will, too.

But you’re going to have a hard time convincing any San Francisco fan that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick or even Packers legendary head coach Vince Lombardi are the best head coaches in football history over the 49ers’ own, Bill Walsh.

Sure, Belichick can claim the most Super Bowl titles, while the Lombardi Trophy is named after, well, Vince Lombardi. And other coaches will be in the ring as well.

Yet let’s lay claim to the fact Walsh did more than just win three Super Bowl titles and heavily influenced the fourth, all taking a downtrodden Niners franchise out of the doldrums in the late 1970s and turning into arguably the greatest dynasty of all time until Belichick met quarterback Tom Brady.

It was the way Walsh changed the game with his heavily influential West Coast offense, the base system that probably led to nearly 75 percent of teams’ offensive schemes today.

Heck, Belichick would probably agree.

No. 7: ‘The Catch’ is the greatest play in NFL history

Yes, there are plenty of legendary moments in the history of the game, and a lot of them have to do with catching the football.

It might be “The Immaculate Reception” between the Steelers and Raiders, or it’s possible that crazy Super Bowl “Helmet Catch,” when the Patriots lost to the New York Giants, standing out as No. 1.

That’s what NFL Films thought, at least of the latter play. But pushing late-great wide receiver Dwight Clark’s “The Catch” to No. 2 on the all-time list of great catches? C’mon, man.

Seriously, Clark’s more-than memorable play in the 1982 NFC Championship game between the 49ers and hated Dallas Cowboys is actually called “The Catch.”

Every other play has to have some sort of adjective to describe it further. Not Clark’s catch.

No. 6: 49ers’ old home at Candlestick Park is sacred and should be honored

Admit it, as a Niners fan, you’re saddened by the reality that Candlestick Park, the team’s home from 1971 through 2013, is no more.

You might drive up Highway 101 just south of San Francisco and look at what once used to be, recalling those frigid September and October days and how, like some of us, you spent your spring and summer watching the San Francisco Giants play there, only to strip off your black and orange to don the red and gold for 49ers games once football season came around.

Seriously, for many a Niners fan, Candlestick Park was as familiar as our high school.

Even though “The Stick” is no more, it remains sacred.

What’ll set San Francisco fans apart from the rest of the NFL is the fact we won’t take any slander about how odd the interior looked, one of the final holdovers from those dual-purpose stadiums of the 1970s. Nor will we accept any flak about it being a dump from any other non-49ers fan.

Although we might agree it was a dump, it was “our dump,” quoting Dwight Clark himself.

No. 5: 49ers fans unanimously love Eddie DeBartolo Jr.

It’s rare to see fanbases out there sing praises about their team’s ownership. Most fans adore their teams but either feel indifferent about the ownership, or in some cases, outright hostile.

Niners fans have experienced both sides of the spectrum. In more recent years, there was no shortage of outrage directed at the York family, specifically CEO Jed York, for heavily influencing the laughingstock years between 2003 and 2010, and then again between 2015 and 2016.

Perhaps York finally turned things around, and one can only hope prior experiences taught him well.

Or, just as possibly, he can see just how beloved San Francisco’s previous owner, Eddie DeBartolo Jr., is among the fanbase.

The Hall of Fame owner remains an endearing part of 49ers lore, being the architect of the greatest dynasty in Bay Area history while also treating nearly every player who came aboard like a first-class family.

In short, DeBartolo cared about one thing only, and that was winning. The Niners won a lot with him at the helm, and fans haven’t forgotten that.

No. 4: 49ers legend Frank Gore is an unquestioned Hall of Famer

It’s hard to believe there’s an argument against this, and the fact plenty of other fanbases out there would actually agree with San Francisco fans on this perhaps doesn’t set the two sides apart.

However, let’s get the record straight: Running back Frank Gore is a bona fide, clear-cut, first-ballot Hall of Famer.

The NFL’s No. 3 all-time leading rusher, who had 16,000 yards over 16 amazing seasons, didn’t just electrify 49ers fans during his storied career. He got to that mark despite tearing two ACLs in college and also in the context of being on some truly awful Niners teams in the mid-2000s when he would have been at his prime.

Read More: 15 most-beloved 49ers fan favorites in franchise history

Anyone who’d argue against Gore’s Hall of Fame candidacy, perhaps saying he never led the league in rushing any given year or wasn’t the most dominant player at his position, ignores so many other facts.

Those arguments wouldn’t stand a chance of convincing a San Francisco fan otherwise, and fans probably still tear up a bit when thinking about what Gore means to the red and gold to this day.

No. 3: Cowboys suck

Alright, we hear you, fans of the Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders. Probably a few other fanbases out there, too.

Yes, 49ers fans hate the Dallas Cowboys just as much as you do. Maybe, just maybe, a little more.

Younger Niners fans may not appreciate it quite as much, although the Niners’ victory over Dallas in the 2022 Wild Card round surely helped re-spark an age-old classic rivalry. But during the 1970s, much of the 1980s and surely in the 1990s, Cowboys-Niners football was about as intense as things could possibly get.

Seriously, nothing was as important on the NFL calendar than a San Francisco-Dallas game.

Of course, the 49ers had their hearts broken plenty of times by the Cowboys in the early 1970s, then again in the 1990s, too, although getting some vengeance in the NFC Championship game in 1995 and in the aforementioned Wild Card round helped sweeten the memory a bit.

But for many a Niners fan, this rivalry was personal. It was bigger than just two teams not liking each other.

No. 2: Jerry Rice is the greatest player in NFL history

There are going to be those who argue Hall of Famer Jerry Rice isn’t the greatest wide receiver in football history, let alone the greatest player ever.

What?

Alright, you might have a slight argument against Rice not being the greatest football player ever, and you’d probably toss in other all-time greats like running back Jim Brown or defensive end Lawrence Taylor, two who unquestionably changed the game forever.

Yet the stats that originally set both Brown and Taylor apart, like sacks and rushing yards, have since been eclipsed. And while the contexts are vastly different now than when they played, that same context has been afforded to those receivers trying to catch Rice’s records.

No one has come close. Remotely.

In fact, No. 2 to Rice’s 22,895 receiving yards is now-retired wideout Larry Fitzgerald, whose 17,492 yards trail by over 5,400 yards.

As far as all-time touchdowns go, Rice leads NFL history with 208. Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, a legend in his own accord, stands at 175.

Seriously, don’t argue this. 49ers fans won’t let you hear the end of it.

No. 1: Tom Brady is the GOAT (but it’s really Joe Montana)

Yes, bringing Tom Brady back into the equation, and no Niners fan will let you forget the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback grew up a die-hard fan of the red and gold.

It’s fair to probably admit nearly every San Francisco fan has given up the notion that Brady plays second fiddle to the original greatest quarterback of all time, Joe Montana, especially with Brady’s seven Super Bowl championships and a slew of other records that make him stand alone. And Brady receives plenty of credit for extending his NFL career well into his 40s.

Like Frank Gore and Jerry Rice, that’s surely admirable.

Secretly, though, 49ers fans still pass along the hard-realized understanding Montana, not Brady, is the GOAT.

If the goal of every NFL team to win a Super Bowl, then that should be the pinnacle achievement. Brady does have the edge in Super Bowl wins, yes, so he gets the GOAT moniker and then some.

However, Brady doesn’t hold a card to Montana in terms of Super Bowl performances.

Need evidence? Here’s some.

Brady has tossed six interceptions in 10 Super Bowls. Montana’s interceptions thrown in the big game? Zero.

Need more? Brady’s Super Bowl passer rating is 97.7, whereas Montana’s is a whopping 127.8.

Us Niners fans are quiet about it now, but Montana is still the GOAT here.