NFL And AAFC Merge

On Dec. 9, 1949, the NFL merged with the All-American Football Conference. As part of the merger, three AAFC franchises joined the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts, and Cleveland Browns joined the NFL. The remaining AAFC franchises folded. Two days later, the Browns beat the 49ers in the final AAFC title game.

The Baltimore Colts ended up disbanding as a team following the 1950 season, but would re-enter into the NFL in 1953. The Colts would win two Super Bowls in their four appearances. With there most notable appearance in Super Bowl III against the New York Jets, when Johnny Unitas quarterback of the Colts lost to “Broadway” Joe Namath.

More recently Peyton Manning led the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI (41) as they beat the Chicago Bears, solidifying Manning as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL and his entrance into the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

The Cleveland Browns still have never been to a Super Bowl, however a team that was built from them the Baltimore Ravens would win Super Bowl XXXV, their only appearance in history up until last season when the Ravens beat the 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers have gone on to become one of the elite franchises in NFL history winning Five Super Bowls (and dropping one) ranking them tied for second all-time. They trail only the Steelers, who have six wins, and are tied with the Dallas Cowboys.

Marshall Runs The Wrong Way

On Oct. 25, 1964, Jim Marshall runs the wrong way against 49ers.

On this day in 1964, Jim Marshall of the Minnesota Vikings had one of the most famous gaffes in sports history. 

Marshall was a great player that once appeared in 282 straight games, then a record. But Marshall is most remembered for his poor play in this game against the San Francisco 49ers. 

Marshall picked up a fumble and returned it 66 yards in the wrong direction. The play resulted in a safety and has become one of the most famous highlights ever.

Replacement Players In NFL

On Oct. 4, 1987, the NFL has replacement players play for the first time. The replacement players would last three weeks before the regular players would return. Most teams saw record low attendance during the replacement player games.

The 1987 NFL season was the sixty-eighth regular season of the National Football League. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, but the games for weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players. 85% of the veteran players did not cross picket lines during the strike.

The replacement player teams were given mock names like "Chicago Spare Bears", "San Francisco Phoney Niners", "New Orleans Saint Elsewheres", "Washington ScabSkins", and "Seattle Sea-scabs".

Final television revenues were down by about 20 percent, a smaller drop than the networks had expected. The defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants went 0–3 in replacement games, ultimately costing them a chance to make the playoffs and repeat their championship.

After the season the St. Louis Cardinals' owners announced they would be leaving Missouri for Tempe, Arizona and become the Phoenix Cardinals for 1988.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXII when the Washington Redskins defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10 in Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Broncos made their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance while the Redskins were returning for the first time since they advanced to Super Bowl XVIII four seasons earlier.

Rice Sets A New Touchdown Record

On Sept. 5, 1994, Hall of Famer and San Francisco 49ers great Jerry Rice catches an National Football League (NFL) record touchdown with career touchdown reception 127.

Rice would go on to catch another 70 touchdowns over his career ending his career as the player with the most receiving touchdowns of all time with 197 touchdown receptions.

Over his career Rice played for the 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. However, he never actually played a regular season game with the Broncos, just playing with them in the preseason before being cut.

Rice still holds nearly every possible receiving record for both regular and post-season performance.
Including being the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns. In his 20 NFL seasons, Rice missed only 10 regular season games, seven of them in the 1997 season, and the other three in the strike-shortened season of 1987. His 303 games are by far the most ever played by an NFL wide receiver.

Rice finished his regular season career with 1,549 receptions for 22,895 yards with 208 touchdowns for a total of 1,256 points scored. Of the 208 touchdowns Rice scored 10 of those are rushing and one is passing with the majority, 197 coming as receptions.

Six times Rice led the league in receiving yards and touchdown receptions with his highest single season totals coming in 1995 and 1987 respectively.

His 1,848 receiving yards in 1995 was the highest single season total until 2012 when Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions broke the record with 1,964 receiving yards.

His 22-touchdown reception season of 1987 was the highest single season mark of any receiver until then New England Patriots Randy Moss broke the mark in 2007. However, Rice caught 22 in 14 games while it took 16 games for Moss to catch 23.

Rice also led the league in receptions twice, with his highest single season total coming in 1995 with 122, although he did not lead the league in receptions that year.

Rice’s 20-year career saw him make 13 Pro Bowl appearances, including 11 consecutive appearances from 1986-1996. In 1995 Rice was the Pro Bowl MVP. He was a 12-time All-Pro selection, including 11 consecutive times from 1986-1996. He was a two-time NFC Offensive Player of the Year in 1986 and 1987. He was a two time AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1987 and 1993. He was the UPI NFC Player of the Year in 1988 and also the PFWA MVP that same year. Rice was the Bert Bell Award winner in 1987. Rice was also the UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year in 1985.

Rice helped the 49ers to three Super Bowl Championships in Super Bowl XXIII (23), XXIV (24) and XXIX (29). He was named the Super Bowl MVP for Super Bowl XXIII (23).

Rice has been named to the NFL 1980’s, 1990’s All-Decade Teams, and was named to the NFL 75 Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994.

Rice was inducted into Canton’s Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

The San Francisco 49ers retired his no. 80 jersey.

Rice is rated the no. 1 NFL Player of all-time by NFL.com, which is no wonder why his nickname is the “G.O.A.T.” or the Greatest of All Time.