1952 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1952 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League and their 7th overall. They were coming off a 7–4–1 record in 1951.

1952 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Tony Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Buck Shaw
Home stadium	Kezar Stadium
Results
Record	7–5
Division place	3rd NFL National
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	7 RB Hugh McElhenny RB Joe Perry WR Gordy Soltau C Bill Johnson DE Ed Henke DT Leo Nomellini LB Hardy Brown
← 1951 49ers seasons 1953 →

The 49ers won their first five games by at least two touchdowns and had visions of playing in their first-ever NFL Championship Game. However, they lost five of their final seven games to finish at 7–5, third place in the six-team National Conference (which became the Western Conference in 1953).

Y. A. Tittle emerged as the starting quarterback, as he had a completion rate of 51.0% along with eleven touchdowns and 1,407 yards. Frankie Albert also had some action, completing 55.0% of his passes, along with eight TDs and 964 yards.

Joe Perry ran for 725 yards and eight TDs, while rookie Hugh McElhenny had 684 yards on 98 attempts (7.0 yards/carry), along with six rushing TDs, while he caught 26 passes for 367 yards and earned another three touchdowns. Gordie Soltau led the club with 55 receptions for 774 yards and seven TDs.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1952 NFL draft

Round Pick Player Position College 1 9 Hugh McElhenny[1] Halfback Washington 2 22 Bob Toneff OffensiveTackle Notre Dame 3 27 Gene Shannon Halfback Houston 3 33 Billy Tidwell Halfback Texas A&M 4 46 Marion Campbell Offensive tackle Georgia 5 57 Pat O'Donahue End Wisconsin 6 70 Jim Beasley Center Tulsa 7 81 Don Robison Halfback California 8 94 Jerry Smith Offensive tackle Wisconsin 9 105 Glen Christian Halfback Idaho 10 118 Carl West Fullback Mississippi 11 129 J. D. Kimmel Offensive tackle Houston/Army 12 142 Fred Snyder End Loyola 13 153 Rudy Yeager Offensive tackle LSU 14 166 Frank Simons End Nebraska

Round Pick Player Position College 15 177 Haldo Norman End Gustavus Adolphus 16 190 Bob Meyers Halfback Stanford 17 201 Al Baldock End USC 18 214 Bill Carey End Michigan State 20 238 Jess Yates End LSU 21 249 Gene Offield End Hardin–Simmons 22 262 Jim Cozad Offensive tackle Santa Clara 23 273 Bill Glazier End Arizona 24 286 Ralph Kreuger Tackle California 25 297 Henry (Bud) Laughlin Fullback Kansas 26 310 Dick Kane Guard Cincinnati 27 321 Waldo Schaaf Offensive tackle Oklahoma A&M 28 334 Joe Palumbo Guard Virginia 29 345 Chuck Mosher End Colorado 30 358 Dick Patrick Center Oregon

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 10	San Francisco Broncos	W 79–0	1–0	Kezar Stadium	8,700
2	August 17	Washington Redskins	W 35–0	2–0	Kezar Stadium	35,234
3	August 24	Chicago Cardinals	W 38–14	3–0	Kezar Stadium	34,901
4	September 3	at Los Angeles Rams	W 17–7	4–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	67,799
5	September 7	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 29–14	5–0	Forbes Field	21,759
6	September 13	at Cleveland Browns	W 35–31	6–0	Rubber Bowl	30,119
7	September 19	at San Jose Packers	W 76–0	7–0	Spartan Stadium	6,839

^[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 28	Detroit Lions	W 17–3	1–0	Kezar Stadium	52,750	Recap
2	October 4	at Dallas Texans	W 37–14	2–0	Cotton Bowl	12,566	Recap
3	October 12	at Detroit Lions	W 28–0	3–0	Briggs Stadium	42,842	Recap
4	October 19	at Chicago Bears	W 40–16	4–0	Wrigley Field	46,338	Recap
5	October 26	Dallas Texans	W 48–21	5–0	Kezar Stadium	26,887	Recap
6	November 2	Chicago Bears	L 17–20	5–1	Kezar Stadium	58,255	Recap
7	November 9	at New York Giants	L 14–23	5–2	Polo Grounds	54,230	Recap
8	November 16	at Washington Redskins	W 23–17	6–2	Griffith Stadium	30,863	Recap
9	November 23	at Los Angeles Rams	L 9–35	6–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	64,450	Recap
10	November 30	Los Angeles Rams	L 21–34	6–4	Kezar Stadium	49,420	Recap
11	December 7	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–24	6–5	Kezar Stadium	13,886	Recap
12	December 14	Green Bay Packers	W 24–14	7–5	Kezar Stadium	17,579	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL National Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions	9	3	0	.750	7–3	344	192	W3
Los Angeles Rams	9	3	0	.750	8–2	349	234	W8
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583	6–3	285	221	W1
Green Bay Packers	6	6	0	.500	3–6	295	312	L3
Chicago Bears	5	7	0	.417	4–6	245	326	W1
Dallas Texans	1	11	0	.083	1–9	182	427	L2

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

Personnel

Roster

1953 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks 13 Frankie Albert P 14 Y. A. Tittle Running backs 38 Ben Aldridge 22 Joe Arenas 39 Hugh McElhenny 34 Joe Perry 45 Johnny Strzykalski 25 Bob White Receivers 24 J. R. Boone 82 Gordy Soltau K 84 Billy Wilson	Offensive linemen 63 Bruno Banducci G 67 Nick Feher G 53 Bill Johnson C 73 Leo Nomellini T/DT 69 Jerry Smith G 62 Bob Toneff T/DT 52 Pete Wismann C/LB Defensive linemen 76 Don Campora DT 75 Al Carapella DT/MG/DE 72 Ray Collins DT 89 Ed Henke DE/WR 68 Bob Momsen MG 83 Pat O'Donahue DE 87 Charley Powell DE		Linebackers 33 Hardy Brown MLB 32 Don Burke OLB/MG 15 Jim Powers OLB/QB Defensive backs 23 Rex Berry CB 43 Jim Cason S 28 Sam Cathcart S/CB 42 Lowell Wagner CB/WR	Reserve lists 54 Gail Bruce DE (IR) 64 Visco Grgich MG (IR) 85 Bill Jessup WR (Military) -- Clay Matthews T (Military) -- Jim Monachino RB (Military) -- Haldo Norman WR (IR) -- Pete Schabarum RB (Military) 36 Norm Standlee RB (IR) rookies in italics

Pro Bowl

San Francisco's players selected for the Pro Bowl:

Player	Position
Hardy Brown	Linebacker
Ed Henke	Defensive end
Bill Johnson	Center
Hugh McElhenny	Running back
Leo Nomellini	Defensive tackle
Joe Perry	Running back
Gordie Soltau	Wide receiver