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The San Francisco 49ers will honor one of the many legends of the franchise this fall when they induct former head coach George Seifert into the Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame. Coach Seifert's induction ceremony will be held Saturday, November 1, and he will be recognized at halfitme of the 49ers Week 9 matchup against the St. Louis Rams. Given the 49ers dominance of the Rams in the early 90s, it's kind of fitting that Coach Seifert is honored that weekend.
This is an even bigger deal for a guy like Coach Seifert because of his extensive history with the team. He's most well known for his work with the defense in the 80s, and taking over as head coach following Bill Walsh, but his history goes back well beyond that. Coach Seifert is from San Francisco, and he worked as an usher at Kezar Stadium in the 1950s. I know that now, but that was something I didn't learn until well after Coach Seifert had finished coaching the team.
Coach Walsh is rightfully credited for his role in turning the 49ers into the team of the 80s. The one downside to this is that George Seifert coached in Walsh's shadow when he took over the reigns of the team. Coach Seifert took over the 49ers following their Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, and proceeded to help guide the franchise back to the promise land a year later with their demolition of the Denver Broncos. The roster was loaded with "Walsh's guys", but there is a lot to be said for coming into that situation and handling business. I'm sure some coaches on awful teams would have loved to trade places with Coach Seifert.
Coach Seifert finished his career with the 49ers with a 98-30 regular season record (.766), and two Lombardi Trophies. It's a fitting tribute that he gets this induction into the franchise Hall of Fame. Over at 49ers.com, Taylor Price put together this fantastic article about Coach Seifert. Give it a read.
Speaking of the 49ers Hall of Fame, the team will finally have a physical presence for it in Levi's Stadium. The 49ers Hall of Fame was created in 2000 to honor players, coaches and executives, but it never had a real home. At Levi's Stadium, the team's Hall of Fame will be a part of the 20,000 square-foot 49ers Museum. Here is a description of the museum:
The 49ers Museum presented by Sony features 11 unique gallery and exhibit spaces. The journey will begin in the main lobby at the Trending Gallery, where fans will learn what’s new with the team and our space. From there, fans move to the Morabito Theater to watch the 49ers signature film and then into the Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame where the Faithful can walk amongst the 49ers greats. The Heritage Gallery innovatively illuminates the history of the team through artifacts and multimedia exhibits and leads perfectly into the active In the Game Gallery on the lower level. The 49ers Museum visit will end reliving the memories of our five Super Bowl Championships in front of the Lombardi trophies. The Denise DeBartolo York Education Center, located inside the 49ers Museum, is committed to education and innovation and will serve more than 20,000 Bay Area children in year one alone. As the first professional sports organization to embrace the STEM learning concepts for youth, the 49ers Museum will constantly be evolving and enhancing students’ experiences to reflect the most current concepts that support classroom learning.