49ers begin process of building Tom Rathman’s Hall of Fame statue

The San Francisco 49ers are inducting former running backs coach and fullback Tom Rathman into the team Hall of Fame later this fall. Each player inducted into the Hall of Fame gets a statue in his honor added to the 49ers Museum. Here are some examples from the Levi’s Stadium website. You can get tickets here to visit the museum.

Earlier this week, the team posted some pictures as the statue process gets underway for Rathman. They show him getting a cast done of his face. I don’t imagine the body is easy to make, but they don’t have to worry about the specifics that we often see with a face.

The honor is certainly plenty deserving for Rathman. And while his on-field contributions to the 49ers dynasty are numerous, his coaching achievements deserve recognition as well. I don’t recall a single running back having a negative thing to say about what Rathman brought to the table as position coach. Frank Gore swore by him, and in recent years, every young running back has had nothing but praise for Rathman.

I don’t know if the induction is strictly for his work as a player, but I imagine his speech later this fall will also include some reference to the work he has done passing on his knowledge to younger players.