1976 49ers: What Could Have Been

[7DnBrnc53]

The Simpson trade was beyond dumb. Simpson wasn't even as good as Delvin Williams at the time.

I heard that Eddie D. encouraged Thomas to make that trade. Under another owner, I wonder if they even do that.

[BD Sullivan]

Side question...WHY was there a Steelers/Niners MNF game in '78? Niners were bad the year before. A September match perhaps understandable (jury still out on if they'd be good or not), but to schedule it LATE in the season?

They had picked up OJ, gotten a lot of hype during the offseason with some of Thomas' deals and appeared to be ready to contend. Instead, by midseason, they were a disaster.

Surprisingly, when Rozelle mentioned how playing the weekend of the JFK assassination was his biggest mistake, no one mentioned the Pittsburgh-SF MNF game. Considering that was played about six HOURS after the mayor of SF and Harvey Milk had been murdered at City Hall, he took plenty of heat for supposed insensitivity, but in fairness, delaying it 24 hours would made things chaotic for scheduling, especially since Pittsburgh had to head to Houston the next Sunday.

[SixtiesFan]

The Plunkett trade was costly because he didn't provide much value. 49ers QBs after Brodie (1974-75) were a disaster, but Plunkett was too banged up with the 49ers to help much.

The Simpson trade was beyond dumb. Simpson wasn't even as good as Delvin Williams at the time.

When Chuck Knox became the Bills head coach, he wanted to trade O.J. Simpson, but couldn't get anything for him. O.J. had injured his knee halfway through the 1977 season and would be 31 in 1978. Also, O.J. being O.J., he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "I want to be traded! I want to go to a contender!," O.J. kept telling the press. And other teams decided they wouldn't give much for Simpson, assuming (if they wanted him) they could have him for nothing.

So Chuck Knox called O.J. and told him he wanted to trade him but to stop saying "I want to be traded." O.J. then started telling the press how much he admired Chuck Knox as a coach who believed in the running game and would consider staying in Buffalo.

Soon after, Knox made the deal with Joe Thomas and the 49ers for several draft choices.

The above information comes from Chuck Knox's book, "Hard Knox."

[7DnBrnc53]

Side question...WHY was there a Steelers/Niners MNF game in '78? Niners were bad the year before. A September match perhaps understandable (jury still out on if they'd be good or not), but to schedule it LATE in the season?

They had picked up OJ, gotten a lot of hype during the offseason with some of Thomas' deals and appeared to be ready to contend. Instead, by midseason, they were a disaster.

Surprisingly, when Rozelle mentioned how playing the weekend of the JFK assassination was his biggest mistake, no one mentioned the Pittsburgh-SF MNF game. Considering that was played about six HOURS after the mayor of SF and Harvey Milk had been murdered at City Hall, he took plenty of heat for supposed insensitivity, but in fairness, delaying it 24 hours would made things chaotic for scheduling, especially since Pittsburgh had to head to Houston the next Sunday.

Joe Thomas was losing his mind that year. He attacked a reporter on a disco floor, and on the day of the assassinations, he was afraid that the killer was coming for him next.

[JuggernautJ]

Joe Thomas was losing his mind that year. He attacked a reporter on a disco floor, and on the day of the assassinations, he was afraid that the killer was coming for him next.

Living in San Francisco at the time I'm not so sure that was an unreasonable assumption.
(he was really unpopular... and for good reason)

[Rupert Patrick]

Joe Thomas was losing his mind that year. He attacked a reporter on a disco floor, and on the day of the assassinations, he was afraid that the killer was coming for him next.

Living in San Francisco at the time I'm not so sure that was an unreasonable assumption.
(he was really unpopular... and for good reason)

Don't forget when he showed up he also burned the 49ers historical artifacts and documents which to a historian like myself constitutes a crime against humanity. I'm no Psychiatrist (nor have I ever played one on TV) but it sounds like Joe Thomas might have been having some sort of nervous breakdown in San Francisco; all the symptoms are there such as irrational behavior, paranoia, physical altercations, etc. I'm surprised he was able to get a job in the NFL after the debacle in San Francisco, but his wiki page stated that he was a VP with the Dolphins at the time of his death in 1983.

[7DnBrnc53]

Joe Thomas was losing his mind that year. He attacked a reporter on a disco floor, and on the day of the assassinations, he was afraid that the killer was coming for him next.

Living in San Francisco at the time I'm not so sure that was an unreasonable assumption.
(he was really unpopular... and for good reason)

Don't forget when he showed up he also burned the 49ers historical artifacts and documents which to a historian like myself constitutes a crime against humanity. I'm no Psychiatrist (nor have I ever played one on TV) but it sounds like Joe Thomas might have been having some sort of nervous breakdown in San Francisco; all the symptoms are there such as irrational behavior, paranoia, physical altercations, etc. I'm surprised he was able to get a job in the NFL after the debacle in San Francisco, but his wiki page stated that he was a VP with the Dolphins at the time of his death in 1983.

They should have said something about him on The Timeline, but they said nothing about him when they were talking about the Milk-Moscone assassinations.

[BD Sullivan]

Joe Thomas was losing his mind that year. He attacked a reporter on a disco floor, and on the day of the assassinations, he was afraid that the killer was coming for him next.

Living in San Francisco at the time I'm not so sure that was an unreasonable assumption.
(he was really unpopular... and for good reason)

I'm surprised he was able to get a job in the NFL after the debacle in San Francisco, but his wiki page stated that he was a VP with the Dolphins at the time of his death in 1983.

As previously noted, he generally had a good eye for talent; it's when he was in control that he was the most unstable. It's very likely he was neutered when he came to Miami at the end, given Shula's power. During the Dolphins' dynasty era, he no doubt PO'ed Shula by effectively stating that he had walked into a great situation--courtesy of Joe Thomas, of course.

In a sense, Thomas also tried to destroy the history of the Colts, getting rid of franchise icons like Unitas, etc. Given the fact that he came to the Vikings and Dolphins at the very beginning, there was no history to destroy.

[rhickok1109]

Joe Thomas was losing his mind that year. He attacked a reporter on a disco floor, and on the day of the assassinations, he was afraid that the killer was coming for him next.

Living in San Francisco at the time I'm not so sure that was an unreasonable assumption.
(he was really unpopular... and for good reason)

Don't forget when he showed up he also burned the 49ers historical artifacts and documents which to a historian like myself constitutes a crime against humanity.

Lombardi did much the same in Green Bay. He took down every single item relevant to the Packers' history (although he didn't destroy them) and he fought like hell to keep City Stadium from being renamed Lambeau Field. According to my uncle, who was instrumental in founding the Packer Hall of Fame, Lombardi also opposed that idea but reluctantly gave his approval under pressure from the Board of Directors.

[JuggernautJ]

Don't forget when he showed up he also burned the 49ers historical artifacts and documents...

I will never forget (or forgive) that.
It was the football equivalent of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
(Historian joke)