1959 San Francisco 49ers season

1959 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Victor Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Red Hickey
Home field	Kezar Stadium
Results
Record	7–5
Division place	3rd (tied) NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1959 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 10th season in the NFL, their 13th overall, and their first with head coach Red Hickey.

Coming off a 6–6–0 record in 1956, they were attempting to improve their record and qualify for the playoffs. However, they ended the season without qualifying for the playoffs. After starting the season 6–1, they lost 4 out of their last 5 games and ended with a 7–5 record, missing the playoffs for the second straight year.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1959 NFL Draft

1959 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	Dave Baker *	DB	Oklahoma
1	8	Dan James	T	Ohio State
2	17	Bob Harrison	LB	Oklahoma
3	29	Eddie Dove *	DB	Colorado
4	41	Monte Clark	T	USC
5	54	Frank Geremia	T	Notre Dame
6	66	Tony Bavaro	T	Holy Cross
7	74	Don Rogers	C	South Carolina
7	78	Daniel Colchico	DE	San Jose State
8	90	Lew Aken	E	Vanderbilt
9	102	Bobby Joe Green	P	Florida
10	114	Bronko Nagurski Jr.	T	Notre Dame	Signed with Hamilton Tiger Cats (CFL)
11	126	Jack Hayes	B	Trinity (TX)
12	138	Bill Korutz	C	Dayton
13	150	Bill Lopasky	G	West Virginia	Made roster in 1961
14	162	Mike Dukes	LB	Clemson
15	174	Joe Belland	B	Arizona State
16	186	Bob Cook	B	Idaho State
17	198	Jerome Jurczak	C	Benedictine
18	210	Jack Cowley	T	Trinity (TX)
19	222	Tom Osborne	WR	Hastings
20	234	Toby Deese	T	Georgia Tech
21	246	Luther Carr	B	Washington
22	258	Burnio McQueen	E	North Carolina A&T
23	270	Bruce Dollahan	T	Illinois
24	282	Craig Chudy	E	UCLA
25	294	Roy Gee	G	Trinity (TX)
26	306	Ed Young	E	Louisville
27	318	Mel Semenko	T	Colorado
28	330	Mike McCluskey	B	Washington
29	342	Jack Bolton	T	Puget Sound
30	354	Bob Carter	T	Denver
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1959 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Team Owner - Victor Morabito General manager – Louis Spadia Head coaches Head coach - Frankie Albert Offensive coaches Chief of Offense / Offensive Coordinator - Red Hickey Offensive Line – Bill Johnson

Defensive coaches Defensive Assistant – Phil Bengtson Special teams coaches None - N/A

Roster

1959 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks 14 Y.A. Tittle 12 John Brodie Running backs 26 Lenny Lyles HB 28 C.R. Roberts HB 34 Joe Perry FB 39 Hugh McElhenny HB 43 Tom McCormick HB 24 J.D. Smith Wide receivers 22 Joe Arenas 27 R.C. Owens FL 85 Bill Jessup Tight ends 86 Clyde Conner E 87 Fred Dugan E 84 Billy Wilson	Offensive linemen 52 Karl Rubke 53 Frank Morze C 66 John Wittenborn LG 64 Ted Connolly LG 76 John Gonzaga LT 68 Lou Palatella RG 78 John Thomas LT 79 Bob St. Clair RT 77 Bruce Bosley Defensive linemen 63 Monte Clark 75 Ed Henke 72 Bill Herchman 74 Henry Schmidt DE 70 Charlie Krueger 87 Charley Powell 73 Leo Nomellini		Linebackers 50 Jerry Tubbs MLB 52 Karl Rubke LB 54 Bob Harrison 55 Matt Hazeltine 33 Clancy Osborne Defensive backs 20 Bill Stits 25 Dave Baker DB 29 Billy Atkins FS 80 Jerry Mertens 40 Abe Woodson DB 42 Jimmy Ridlon DB 44 Eddie Dove FS 47 Dicky Moegle Special teams 36 Tommy Davis P/K	Reserve lists Vacant rookies in italics

Source:

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 27	Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–14	1–0	Kezar Stadium	41,697	Recap
2	October 4	Los Angeles Rams	W 34–0	2–0	Kezar Stadium	56,028	Recap
3	October 11	at Green Bay Packers	L 20–21	2–1	City Stadium	32,150	Recap
4	October 18	at Detroit Lions	W 34–13	3–1	Briggs Stadium	52,585	Recap
5	October 25	Chicago Bears	W 20–17	4–1	Kezar Stadium	59,045	Recap
6	November 1	Detroit Lions	W 33–7	5–1	Kezar Stadium	59,064	Recap
7	November 8	at Los Angeles Rams	W 24–16	6–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	94,276	Recap
8	November 15	at Chicago Bears	L 3–14	6–2	Wrigley Field	42,157	Recap
9	November 22	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–45	6–3	Memorial Stadium	56,007	Recap
10	November 29	at Cleveland Browns	W 21–20	7–3	Cleveland Stadium	53,763	Recap
11	December 5	Baltimore Colts	L 14–34	7–4	Kezar Stadium	59,075	Recap
12	December 13	Green Bay Packers	L 14–36	7–5	Kezar Stadium	55,997	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	9	3	0	.750	9–1	374	251	W5
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	6–4	252	196	W7
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583	5–5	255	237	L2
Green Bay Packers	7	5	0	.583	6–4	248	246	W4
Detroit Lions	3	8	1	.273	2–8	203	275	L1
Los Angeles Rams	2	10	0	.167	2–8	242	315	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	8–2	284	170	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	5	0	.583	6–4	268	278	L1
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583	6–4	270	214	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	5	1	.545	6–4	257	216	W1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	185	350	L5
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	234	324	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

External links

• 1959 San Francisco 49ers season stats