Oh ye peeples of little faith and short memories... (Rat note; I've gotta be honest with you here. This was the only time I ever turned my back on this team, going back to when I was 7 years old. Total boycott. Didn't even read the sports section.)*
The 49ers fell to 5-9 in 1973. They had two more losing seasons, and went a middling 8-6 in '76. Edward DeBartolo Jr. bought the club on March 31, 1977 for a cool 17 million. One of Eddie's first acts was to bring in Joe Thomas to run the football operation.
The Megalomanic
Joe Thomas is a man who built an altar to himself, and sacrificed himself on it. He was instrumental in tranforming the Minnesota Vikings from an expansion team into a perennial NFC power. He moved on to Miami, where he acquired 21 of the 22 starters on the Dolphins' undefeated 1972 team. Not surprisingly, Joe Thomas became known as something of a whiz at spotting talent, especially the proverbial "under the radar" type-guys. At about the time Miami was hoisting the first of two straight Vince Lombardi Trophies, he also became a man with a penchant for melting welcome mats under his shoes.
Forced out of Miami, Joe Thomas took his eye for talent to Baltimore, where the Colts were downtrodden with an aging team. Thomas came in and tossed out a bunch of Colt legends- Unitas, Mike Curtis, John Mackey. He burned a lot of bridges with Baltimore fans, but slowly, Thomas built a new power in horseshoe helmets. In 1972 he drafted Lydell Mitchell, Bruce Laird, and Stan White (in the 17th round, from Ohio State and Kent Roosevelt High School). In '73 he drafted Bert Jones. In '74 he drafted John Dutton, Roger Carr, Fred Cook, and Freddie Scott. The 1974 Colts went 2-12. The '75 Colts started 1-4, won their last nine games, and took the AFC East Championship. The team's official highlight film, "Miracle on 33rd Street" became a paeon to Joe Thomas.
But Thomas's rapidly inflating ego offset his good work in Baltimore. A power struggle between the GM and head coach Ted Marchibroda triggered Marchibroda's surprise resignation in the preseason of 1976. Angry Colts players rallied behind Marchibroda. Baltimore owner Robert Irsay was forced to pick sides between his team and his general manager. He picked his team. Thomas was fired, only to resurface in San Francisco. This time there was no Marchibroda, no rival- just Eddie DeBartolo, who was 17 years younger than his GM. Thomas has full authority over personnel in San Francisco.
He wielded that authority with catastrophic results. Quarterback Jim Plunkett was cut, only to reemerge as a starter for a Super Bowl winner across the bay in Oakland. The 49ers limped to a 5-9 record in 1977. Thomas fired two head coaches during the '77 season. The following winter, Thomas sent four draft choices- his second and third in '78, and his first and fourth in '79- to Buffalo for O.J. Simpson. Simpson gained 1,053 yards in two seasons with the 49ers. In 1978, San Francisco crumbled, losing 14 games. Thomas fired two more coaches during the season. Buffalo's extra first-round selection became the top pick in the draft in 1979, thanks in no small part to the machinations of Joe Thomas.
But Thomas didn't confine his scorched-earth policy to the artificial playing field at Candlestick Park. On his orders, three decades of 49er memorabilia- programs, media guides, game films, the very charter of the team, stuff you can't put a price on- was simply thrown away. Said Thomas, '"History begins today. Get all this crap out of here. We don't want any of this.'" Like the Browns, the 49ers had never been to a Super Bowl, but they had had a rich and vibrant history in San Francisco. None of this mattered to Thomas. In the words of Carmen Policy, Joe Thomas,
"...wanted to re-create the 49ers, in his own image."
The image of the Joe Thomas 49ers turned out to be four head coaches, one trade of macro-disastrous proportions, a 7-23 record, and a fan base that was so alienated it made the relationship between Butch Davis and the Cleveland fans look like a Roman orgy. Following the 1978 season, DeBartolo did the only thing he could do- he fired Joe Thomas, whose brilliant but increasingly erratic career ended in a gotterdammrung of his own making.
Bill Walsh
On January 9, 1979, DeBartolo hired Bill Walsh as head coach and general manager.
'Nuff said; wouldn't want to brag; Whoops, I do..1/9 is my Mom's BD; I should have read the omen.
thephatphree.com
*JT lost me when he got rid of the plaques for Joe the Jet and Hugh McElhenny. That's it. Bye, Eddie. Let me know when I have my team back. What about that guy at Stanferd? Cal's never beaten him.
PS. That was then, and this is now. Come back, Eddie; all is forgiven. Your sis don't know shit; neither do her hubby. |
