The 49ers have had plenty of standout players over their history, yet a few made a lone single-season splash before either disappearing or going elsewhere.
Rolling Stone magazine lists the Norweigan band A-ha’s hit single, “Take On Me,” as the No. 1 one-hit wonder of all time in music.
You might be humming the tune right now.
But what if we explored this sort of thing when it comes to the NFL? More specifically, who might we classify as some of the biggest one-hit wonders in San Francisco 49ers history?
The Niners have their share of all-time greats. No one is questioning that. There are also plenty of lists out there about San Francisco’s most underperforming and disappointing players of all time, too.
How about the players who flashed only for a single season, though? What about them?
Whether it’s good or bad, the 49ers have had their fair share of one-hit wonder players over the years, too, so let’s give them some credit and break down the 10 Niners who made such a brief splash and then either vanished off the radar or took their talents elsewhere.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 10: Linebacker Chris Borland (2014)
A fan doesn’t have to go too far back in time to remember a serious one-hit wonder in San Francisco’s third-round NFL Draft pick from 2014, former Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland.
The undersized backer made a name for himself amid injuries to All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman suffered during the previous NFC Championship game in that loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
And while the 2014 49ers were without Bowman’s services for the entirety of that year, Borland subsequently ended up leading the defense with 108 tackles and finished fourth in voting for Defensive Rookie of the Year that season.
Known for his tenacity and being around the ball all the time, Borland surprised everyone when he shockingly elected to retire after his rookie season, citing concerns about head trauma as a key reason why he called it quits.
Paired with the mass exodus of talent the team had entering 2015, Borland’s departure sure stung a lot.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 9: Running back Matt Breida (2018)
When head coach Kyle Shanahan took over the franchise in 2017, many expected the team’s fourth-round NFL Draft pick, Joe Williams, to be the primary player to support the running back Shanahan inherited from the previous regime, Carlos Hyde.
Yet a relatively unknown tailback named Matt Breida turned the bulk of heads during offseason workouts, and the undrafted free agent would rush for a modestly impressive 465 yards his rookie season while Williams would miss the entirety of 2017.
A year later, as Williams again missed the regular-season cut and Hyde was no longer in the picture, Breida subsequently went on to lead the Niners in rushing with a whopping 814 yards and averaging 5.3 yards per attempt.
Combined with him being the NFL’s fastest ball-carrier that season, one rightfully thought Breida was in for big things as a perfect example of hidden-gem talent.
Yet Breida fell out of favor the following season, as fellow running back Raheem Mostert received the spotlight, leading to the former being off the roster in 2020 where he subsequently faded into obscurity.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 8: Running back Wendell Tyler (1984)
Staying on the ground but going pretty far back in the annals of San Francisco history, one can look at running back Wendell Tyler as a player who absolutely broke out during that dynamic Super Bowl-winning 49ers team of 1984.
You might be thinking, “Wasn’t should-be Hall of Famer Roger Craig performing the bulk of duties on the ground that year?”
Well, Craig was on the roster. But it was actually Tyler who thumped to the tune of 1,262 rush yards on 246 attempts during his lone Pro Bowl campaign two years after coming over from the Los Angeles Rams.
Also, it’s worth pointing out Craig was a fullback at that stage of his career, not a halfback. As such, Craig had only 649 rush yards but was far more dynamic in the receiving game.
Tyler had some impressive years with the Niners in 1983 and 1985, too, but nothing came close to that 1,200-plus yards he enjoyed in 1984, and those surely helped San Francisco reach its second Lombardi Trophy.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 7: Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (2017)
Reverting back to that 2017 season in which Matt Breida made his NFL debut, another one of the moves engineered by Kyle Shanahan was bringing aboard speedy wide receiver Marquise Goodwin via free agency, a signing poised to make the Olympian a pure deep threat to open up Shanahan’s intricate offense.
While the 49ers offense largely struggled for the first two-thirds of the season that year, Goodwin ultimately played a massive role and finished the year with a career-best 962 receiving yards and 1,006 all-purpose yards, the only time he reached anything close to those marks during his NFL tenure.
Goodwin staying healthy for the bulk of the season was a big reason why, and he subsequently struggled with injuries the following season before finding himself off the Niners roster after a modest role in 2019.
Had Goodwin stayed healthy after his one-hit wonder-kind of year in 2017, he probably could have enjoyed more success under Shanahan.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 6: Wide receiver Clifton McNeil (1968)
If Marquise Goodwin has to be included on the list of one-hit wonder San Francisco players, it’d be impossible to leave out the 1968 efforts by 49ers wideout Clifton McNeil, who earned his first and only Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro accolades with the red and gold that year.
McNeil scantly saw the field his first four years in the league with the Cleveland Browns before heading over to the Niners, but his brief time in San Francisco sure got off to a red-hot start, as he posted an impressive 994 yards and a league-leading 71 catches over 14 games.
But that was pretty much it for his notable time with the 49ers.
His success in the Bay Area didn’t repeat in 1969, and the Niners ultimately parted ways with him in 1970, leading to a modestly decent tenure with the New York Giants and Washington Redskins for the next two-plus seasons.
Had McNeil replicated his 1968 numbers even once more with San Francisco, he could have easily been remembered as one of the better wide receivers in franchise history.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 5: Quarterback Steve Spurrier (1972)
It might be strange to think of Steve Spurrier as anything but a football coach, but let’s not forget he spent the bulk of his time in the NFL with the 49ers, ranging from being drafted by the Niners at No. 3 overall in 1967.
As far as quarterbacks go, Spurrier is anything but among the greatest in franchise history, and he spent the bulk of his seasons with the red and gold as a backup to a franchise great, John Brodie.
In the early 1970s, though, Brodie’s career began to wind down, and injuries were beginning to take their toll, ultimately leading to him appearing in just six games that season.
Enter Spurrier.
Over nine starts that season, Spurrier’s numbers weren’t exactly otherworldly, him completing just 54.6 percent of his passes for 1,983 yards with 18 touchdowns against 16 interceptions, all for a passer rating of just 59.5.
Still, name recognition matters here, and that 1972 campaign proved to be Spurrier’s most active under center during his nine-year career with the Niners.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 4: Cornerback Rod Woodson (1997)
There are plenty of notable players who spent only one season with San Francisco, including a few on this list already and some who aren’t mentioned, such as Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss.
Another who should receive some notable praise for being a one-hit wonder with the 49ers, though, is fellow Hall of Famer, cornerback Rod Woodson, who already had a Canton-bound pedigree stemming from his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers before heading out west in 1997.
Woodson’s lone season with the Niners didn’t result in an All-Pro nod or even a Pro Bowl selection, which is quite the anomaly considering he’d add four more Pro Bowls to his résumé after leaving for the Baltimore Ravens in 1998.
Still, Woodson ended up starting 14 games with San Francisco and recorded three interceptions, ultimately helping continue the 49ers’ late 1990s trend of making it into the playoffs.
Had Woodson turned in a Pro Bowl-caliber season with the Niners that year, he might have been ranked higher up this list.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 3: Wide receiver Isaac Bruce (2008)
When one thinks of Hall of Fame wide receiver Isaac Bruce, they likely think of his days with the St. Louis Rams as part of that vaunted offense, the Greatest Show on Turf.
Rightfully so. San Francisco easily was sick at having to face off against Bruce twice a year, and he surely tormented the red and gold during that period of the Rams’ heyday.
It also didn’t help that the 49ers were in the doldrums during the mid-2000s when Bruce was winding down his St. Louis career.
So, what did the Niners do? Simply pluck away a division rival when St. Louis felt he had little more to offer.
Sure, Bruce’s first season with San Francisco wasn’t quite in line with his atypical Pro Bowl-caliber efforts during the early 2000s, although one could argue the 49ers’ own quarterbacking and offensive woes that 2008 season didn’t help matters.
Still, then-36-year-old Bruce managed to post up 61 catches for 835 yards and seven touchdowns in his first of two seasons with the Niners, leading them in each of those categories that particular year.
Bruce hung on with San Francisco for one more season in 2009, but that 2008 campaign is the epitome of a one-year wonder.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 2: EDGE Tim Harris (1992)
It’s hard to argue there was a greater one-hit wonder in 49ers history than former Green Bay Packers EDGE Tim Harris, whose first foray with the Niners beginning in 1991 didn’t exactly generate the eye-popping results many had hoped for.
Particularly in light of his All-Pro 1989 campaign in which he wowed with 19.5 sacks.
In 1992, however, Harris finally turned in that kind of a campaign and recorded his second-best total in that particular category, 17 sacks over 16 games played.
Exactly why Harris wasn’t selected for another All-Pro nod or even a Pro Bowl that season is anyone’s guess, but it’s still fair to make the argument he impacted San Francisco’s defense in a massive way.
Turns out, though, that memorable 1992 effort would be his last major thump at the NFL level.
Briefly joining the Philadelphia Eagles in 1993, Harris would return to the 49ers in 1994 and spent another two seasons, picking up an additional six sacks during that span.
Nothing close to that one-hit 1992 wonder, though.
49ers one-hit wonder No. 1: Cornerback Deion Sanders (1994)
Tim Harris might be No. 1 on this list if it wasn’t for arguably the greatest defensive back in NFL history, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
Sanders was already on his way to donning a yellow jacket from his time spent with the Atlanta Falcons. But as the story goes, he wanted to win a Super Bowl heading into 1994 and understood the Niners would give him the best opportunity to do so.
Well, he was right in that regard.
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En route to helping San Francisco secure its fifth Lombardi Trophy, Sanders’ six interceptions, three defensive touchdowns and 303 interception-return yards, the latter two stats leading the NFL by far that season, not only earned him Defensive Player of the Year honors, but they also put him third in MVP voting.
That said, Sanders broke 49ers fans’ hearts when he opted to leave the team for its biggest archrival the following offseason, the Dallas Cowboys, ultimately going on to win another Super Bowl while frustrating the Niners in the process.
At least he had an all-career kind of year in 1994, though.