1953 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1953 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 4th season in the National Football League and their 8th overall. They were coming off a 7–5 record in 1952.

1953 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Tony Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Buck Shaw
Home stadium	Kezar Stadium
Results
Record	9–3
Division place	2nd NFL Western
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1952 49ers seasons 1954 →

The uniform during the season

The 49ers played consistent football all season long, never losing consecutive games throughout the season en route to a franchise-best 9–3 record. However, the 49ers lost both their games against the Detroit Lions, who finished the season 10–2 to win the Western Conference and earn a spot in the NFL Championship game.

Offensively, San Francisco was led by quarterback Y. A. Tittle, who threw for 2,121 yards and 20 TDs while completing 57.5% of his passes. Running back Joe Perry had another great season, rushing for 1,018 yards along with 10 TDs, while Hugh McElhenny rushed for 503 yards and 3 TDs, and caught 30 passes for 474 yards and 6 TDs. Wide receiver Billy Wilson caught a team-high 51 passes for 840 yards and 10 TDs.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1953 NFL draft

1953 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Harry Babcock	End	Georgia	Bonus lottery pick
1	10	Tom Stolhandske	Linebacker	Texas	signed with Edmonton Eskimos (WIFU); played with 49ers in 1955.
2	21	George Morris	Center	Georgia Tech	played with 49ers in 1956.
3	32	Bob St. Clair * †	Tackle	Tulsa
4	47	Ed Fullerton	Defensive back	Maryland
5	58	Hal Miller	Tackle	Georgia Tech
7	83	Paul Carr	Defensive back	Houston
8	94	Doug Hogland	Guard	Oregon State
9	105	Hal Ledyard	Quarterback	Chattanooga
10	119	Pete Brown	Center	Georgia Tech
11	130	Al Charlton	Back	Washington State
12	141	Carson (Red) Leach	Guard	Duke
13	155	Bill Earley	Back	Washington
14	166	Tom Fletcher	Back	Arizona State
15	177	Charley Genthner	Tackle	Texas
16	191	Fred Durig	End	Bowling Green
17	202	Hugh Latham	Tackle	San Diego State
18	213	Stan Wacholz	End	San Jose State
19	227	King DuClos	Tackle	UTEP
20	238	Ray Huizinga	Tackle	Northwestern
21	249	Ken Bahnsen	Fullback	North Texas State
22	263	Laverne Robbins	Guard	Midwestern State
23	274	Travis Hunt	Tackle	Alabama
24	285	Ed Morgan	Back	Tennessee
25	299	Ernie Stockert	End	UCLA
26	310	Harley Cooper	Back	Arizona State
27	321	Ralph McLeod	End	LSU
28	335	Tom Novikoff	Back	Oregon
29	346	Don Stillwell	End	USC
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Source:^[1]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 27	Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–21	1–0	Kezar Stadium	25,000	Recap
2	October 4	Los Angeles Rams	W 31–30	2–0	Kezar Stadium	41,446	Recap
3	October 11	at Detroit Lions	L 21–24	2–1	Briggs Stadium	56,080	Recap
4	October 18	at Chicago Bears	W 35–28	3–1	Wrigley Field	36,909	Recap
5	October 25	Detroit Lions	L 10–14	3–2	Kezar Stadium	52,300	Recap
6	November 1	Chicago Bears	W 24–14	4–2	Kezar Stadium	26,308	Recap
7	November 8	at Los Angeles Rams	W 31–27	5–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	85,856	Recap
8	November 15	at Cleveland Browns	L 21–23	5–3	Cleveland Stadium	80,698	Recap
9	November 22	at Green Bay Packers	W 37–7	6–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	16,378	Recap
10	November 29	at Baltimore Colts	W 38–21	7–3	Memorial Stadium	26,005	Recap
11	December 6	Green Bay Packers	W 48–14	8–3	Kezar Stadium	31,337	Recap
12	December 13	Baltimore Colts	W 45–14	9–3	Kezar Stadium	23,932	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	0	7	7	21
• 49ers	14	3	7	7	31

• Date: September 27
• Location: Kezar Stadium
• Game attendance: 44,587

Scoring summary

Q1		SF	Arenas 18 yard pass from Tittle (Soltau kick)	SF 7–0
Q1		PHI	Burk 1 yard run (Walston kick)	Tie 7–7
Q1		SF	Tittle 1 yard run (Soltau kick)	SF 14–7
Q2		SF	Soltau 39 yard field goal	SF 17–7
Q3		SF	Wilson 39 yard pass from Tittle (Soltau kick)	SF 24–7
Q3		PHI	Walston 3 yard pass from Burk (Walston kick)	SF 24–14
Q4		SF	Wilson 37 yard pass from Tittle (Soltau kick)	SF 31–14
Q4		PHI	Pihos 10 yard pass from Thomason (Pollard kick)	SF 31–21

^[2]

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions	10	2	0	.833	8–2	271	205	W6
San Francisco 49ers	9	3	0	.750	8–2	372	237	W4
Los Angeles Rams	8	3	1	.727	7–3	366	236	W2
Chicago Bears	3	8	1	.273	2–7–1	218	262	L2
Baltimore Colts	3	9	0	.250	2–8	182	350	L7
Green Bay Packers	2	9	1	.182	2–7–1	200	338	L5

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

Pro Bowl

San Francisco's players selected for the Pro Bowl:

Player	Position
Bill Johnson	Offensive line
Hugh McElhenny	Running back
Art Michalik	Linebacker
Leo Nomellini	Defensive line
Joe Perry	Running back
Gordie Soltau	Wide receiver
Y. A. Tittle	Quarterback