49ers Defining Moments: Bill Walsh, Eddie DeBartolo, "The Catch"

by David Fucillo on May 11, 2011 6:00 AM PDT in 49ers Year-by-Year

Over at ESPN, the football sites have been coming up with various rankings and lists and assorted ways to pass the idle team while the NFL and NFLPA sort out the labor dispute. Their latest attempt involves something they're calling "Flash Points: Team X' defining moment." The general idea is that the writers have come up with a poll to see what people consider a key moment that significantly changed the fortune of a given franchise. Readers can vote and then the writers will give their opinion on the definitive moment.

Mike Sando has put together a write-up on some options for the "definitive moment" in 49ers history. The four moments listed (along with other) are:

1. RC Owens alley-oop catch to beat the Lions in 1957
2. Bill Walsh hired to coach the team
3. Dwight Clark makes "The Catch"
4. Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. forced out as owner

The 49ers have gone through several eras, and you could make an argument about the significance of Eddie D's departure. The team has since gone in the tank and is slowly trying to work its way out from the depths to which they had fallen. It was a significant turning point from the glory days of the 80s and mid-90s.

Of course, the downturn following the departure of Eddie D would not have been an issue if not for the hiring of Bill Walsh. "The Catch" would not have happened if it wasn't for the hiring of Bill Walsh. Really, the 49ers dynastic period began with the hiring of Bill Walsh.

I'd be curious to hear if anybody feels like arguing for any other moment in franchise history. Even the assumption of ownership by Eddie DeBartolo was not a sufficient turning point because he initially struggled to figure out how best to run the franchise. He had the money to spend and it really became a positive force once he had the coach to build around. As far as I can tell, everything comes back to the hiring of Coach Walsh.

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Montana

Surprised that the drafting of Joe Montana isn’t on that list. In terms of a seminal moment for the 49ers.

I am not an expert, as I always say, but I think you could construct a pretty good argument for Montana and Walsh needing each other to a large extent, no? I’m not saying Walsh wouldn’t have been a successful coach without Montana, but he was definitely the right man at the right time to take on board Walsh’s plans and implement them, would we not say?

To not include Montana, and the selection of him in 1979, would suggest that Walsh might have had the same success with another quarterback.

Let’s say Phil Simms, who was also taken in that ‘79 draft and who the 49ers were heavily linked with prior to the draft and rumoured to be interested in. Would they have won four superbowls in a decade with Simms at quarterback? Maybe, but maybe not. Simms had a great career, obviously, but Montana was the perfect fit for Walsh’s offense and made the vision become a reality.

I can’t see how this list can exclude the drafting of Joe Montana.

by LondonNiner on May 11, 2011 6:25 AM PDT reply actions

For the record ...

… I’m not saying Walsh shouldn’t be on the list (!!!) and I’m definitely not arguing that Montana was more important. I’m not arguing with the idea that everything goes back to Bill. I would put Montana generally, as a player and an entity, ahead of The Catch. Clearly The Catch wouldn’t have happened without Montana – would Phil Simms or any other QB gone down or thrown away under the pressure from Too Tall Jones? – and, also, if The Catch hadn’t have happened, and Dallas gone on to that Superbowl in our place, Montana would have led the 49ers to other Superbowls anyway.

by LondonNiner on May 11, 2011 6:29 AM PDT up reply actions

you tell erm LondonNiner

by TeeKay89 on May 11, 2011 6:46 AM PDT up reply actions

Then you have to add acquiring Young too. How many guys take control and fight for that spot with a legend still hanging around.

by mcwagner on May 11, 2011 7:05 AM PDT up reply actions

I would argue that Young was not a defining moment, but a continuation of excellence.

If we were looking at defining years, I’d go for 1981. Can’t forget about how much Ronnie Lott helped us out either.

by McTee on May 11, 2011 9:40 AM PDT up reply actions

Walsh was precursor to Montana being drafted, so I think it's all-encompassing

Alin Kaepersmith FTW!
I just Twitter'd that

by Tre9er on May 11, 2011 7:56 AM PDT up reply actions

Walsh has to be it. He drafted Montana, Lott, Rice, BY, Clark, etc.. He traded for Young

He turned the franchise around and set together a way of playing, a way of winning..

The Hiring of Bill Walsh was the turning point.

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, either way, YOU'RE RIGHT !"

by Eastbayjim on May 11, 2011 7:29 AM PDT reply actions

It wasn't so much Eddie D. being forced out that ended the era...

It was the implementation of the salary cap. That was put in place largely due to SF and their success. They had depth at almost every position due to the willingness to spend. Once the cap was in place, the writting was on the wall. Carmen Policy arranged contracts that were back-loaded in order to keep the team so well stocked with talent, and it was all catching up with us about the time Eddie was forced out.

by ColoradoNiner on May 11, 2011 7:49 AM PDT reply actions

this

It was was the salary cap and not Eddie D. Walsh was with the team a couple of years after Eddie D. ouster trying to run the same spend at all cost system which is why the team collapsed again in 2004.

sd377 wants to ban me for unleashing the Kaepernick Supernova Gamma Ray

by bignerd on May 11, 2011 12:45 PM PDT up reply actions

Walsh left years before Eddie D and years before the salary cap started

The salary cap was implemented in 1994 when Seifert was coach. Who got squeezed by it the most when everything came down the pike was Mariucci, and he still managed to be a good coach. It was the new owners who screwed up the most. They came in 2000 and fired Mariucci in 2002. Dumb dumb dumb.

by McTee on May 11, 2011 7:10 PM PDT up reply actions

Walsh was hired back in the late 90’s and early 00’s. I know everyone blames Donahue, Erickson and York for the 2004 collapse. Bad drafts, worse coach and less willing owner were to blame but the team still couldn’t retain Garcia, Owens, etc because the cap imploded again. That’s because they kept trying to follow the Eddie D. and Walsh model. Walsh left them with a huge bomb under the blanket.

sd377 wants to ban me for unleashing the Kaepernick Supernova Gamma Ray

by bignerd on May 12, 2011 12:00 AM PDT up reply actions

That's absolutely correct...

…with one small caveat. Eddie also knew the importance of treating team personnel like family, even if that means spending some cash. I heard a truly ridiculous story from a very reliable source about how the Yorks once took a long-time member of the organization and his wife out to dinner. Apparently, at the end of dinner, the Yorks asked them to split the check! Can’t imagine Eddie being so cheap…

by Bigmouth on May 11, 2011 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions

The Raiders defining moment has yet to happen...

Al Davis is still alive…

Alin Kaepersmith FTW!
I just Twitter'd that

by Tre9er on May 11, 2011 7:54 AM PDT reply actions

The dismantling of the team around 2003

That was the precursor to the current state of the franchise. Getting rid of Garcia, Owens and Hearst scuttled the team. This team hasn’t been the same since. Hopefully the hiring of Harbaugh will be another turning point.

"I for one welcome our new computer overlords." - Ken Jennings, after losing to a computer on Jeopardy, 2/16/11

by REDANDGOLD8 on May 11, 2011 9:08 AM PDT reply actions

The DEFINING moment for this franchise was THE CATCH

If Dwight misses the ball, if Joe takes the sack or wings the ball out of bounds, if Bill calls sprint left option instead, then there is no “team of the 80’s”, no dynasty, no five rings, probably no Steve Young. Remember, the ‘82 team didn’t even make the playoffs, so maybe Walsh is fired without that Super Bowl win.

If you ask any football fan what they remember about the 49ers, they’ll say THE CATCH.

That’s what “defining moment” means.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means" - Inigo Montoya

by ToddCommish on May 11, 2011 10:35 AM PDT reply actions

If Walsh didn't make them routinely practice that play...

…there probably would not have been a Catch.

by Bigmouth on May 11, 2011 11:12 AM PDT up reply actions

ToddCommish sorry you are way off base

What I am reffering to is Walsh waould be Fired. First off you have to remeber that the 82 season was strike shortened so Walsh had no time to coach and since walsh offense was so much about timeing and percision. Also there was alot of teams that didnt live up to expectations that year redskins came out of nowhere. Also Walsh at that point had proven he can coach and talent evluate montana,Lott, trade for dean soloman was another player drafted and Eddie would have been able to regonize this and going to NFC championship game than not making playoffs the nest year in strike shortened season no way Walsh would have been fired.

cppeter

by foreveryoung66 on May 11, 2011 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I have a hard time buying that myself...

by Bigmouth on May 11, 2011 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions

Define "moment".

I fully agree with ToddCommish; the moment we all envision is Dwight making The Catch. Hell, its referred to as “THE CATCH”; that alone could end the argument.

Obvuisly, this doesn’t happen without Bill Walsh, but I view hiring Walsh as the key foundational step on which the dynasty was built. That is distinct from a moment where all of the practice and building and development was catalyzed and became something that defined the team for years to follow. Really, the debate here is the fault of the article; the offered answers don’t all quite match up to the question presented.

Can people agree on the following proposition:
Most important 49ers franchise decision: Hiring Bill Walsh.
Most definitive moment in 49er history: Dwight Clark makes “The Catch”

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

by skyywise on May 11, 2011 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions

I disagree because..

…I don’t think the Catch “significantly changed the fortune of the franchise,” which was the standard Fooch set in his post. It’s maybe the most “famous” and “memorable” moment. But Walsh’s hiring was when our fortune really changed.

Even if Clark had dropped the ball and we’d lost that NFC championship game, we still would have had all of the glory years that followed because of Walsh.

by Bigmouth on May 11, 2011 2:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I’ll stick by my dislike of how the question and poll was framed then, because “Moment” is the wrong word to use, and “The Catch” shouldn’t be an option. The events listed would be Wash’s hiring, drafting Montana, trading for Young, DeBartalo forced out, etc.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

by skyywise on May 11, 2011 3:49 PM PDT up reply actions

PS

Do you really believe Walsh would have been fired after losing in the NFC Championship game?! I find that hard to accept. I think our ‘80s would have been pretty much the same even if we hadn’t won that first Super Bowl.

by Bigmouth on May 11, 2011 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions

OOPS, I MISREAD...

…you were saying he would have been fired after the ‘82 season. I still think that’s a stretch, but I misread your comment initially. My apologies for the confusion.

by Bigmouth on May 11, 2011 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Sheesh, I said 'maybe Walsh is fired"

and everybody thinks that means WALSH IS FIRED. No, but without a Super Bowl win, he’s not a “genius” after the strike-shortened 1982 season, Joe isn’t (well) Joe, Fred Dean’s holdout might last longer, the whole 49er “mystique” might never happen.

It’s pure speculation that “if Clark had dropped the ball and we’d lost that NFC championship game, we still would have had all of the glory years that followed because of Walsh.” Even geniuses need good timing once in a while. If Newton isn’t sitting under an apple tree, maybe he isn’t inspired. You all seem to take the success for granted, like Walsh drafting Joe automatically = championships. Hell, if Eric Wright doesn’t horsecollar Drew Pearson, we don’t win the game either.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means" - Inigo Montoya

by ToddCommish on May 11, 2011 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions

i voted for the catch

keyword was the defining moment. the catch was everything put into one play. walsh’s offense and practice routines, montana’s brilliance, clark’s upside, the defeat of dallas. it was everything boiled down to a few seconds.

by whanson on May 11, 2011 4:14 PM PDT reply actions