1972 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1972 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 23rd season in the National Football League and their 27th overall. The 49ers appeared in the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

1972 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Josephine Morabito Jane Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Dick Nolan
Home stadium	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	8–5–1
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Cowboys) 28–30
Pro Bowlers	C Forrest Blue G Woody Peoples WR Gene Washington TE Ted Kwalick OLB Dave Wilcox CB Jimmy Johnson
← 1971 49ers seasons 1973 →

After an ankle injury to quarterback John Brodie in a loss to the Giants to fall to 2–3,^[1] Steve Spurrier stepped in and turned things around with brilliant performances to get the 49ers back in the playoff picture by going 5–2–1 in the next eight games. In the regular season finale, Brodie returned late in the third quarter and threw two touchdown passes in the fourth to rally the 49ers to a 20–17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings for an 8–5–1 record and third straight division title.^[2][3]

In the divisional playoffs at Candlestick Park, the 49ers looked poised for a return to the NFC Championship game, leading the Dallas Cowboys 28–13 at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Cowboys scored seventeen unanswered points to win by two.^[4][5]

This was the third consecutive season that San Francisco lost to Dallas in the playoffs, and the 49ers' last postseason appearance for nine years.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1972 NFL draft

1972 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	19	Terry Beasley	Wide receiver	Auburn
2	28	Ralph McGill	Defensive back	Tulsa
2	44	Jean Barrett	Tackle	Tulsa	started playing for the 49ers in 1973
3	71	Jubilee Dunbar	Wide receiver	Southern
4	96	Windlan Hall	Defensive back	Arizona State
5	123	Mike Greene	Linebacker	Georgia
6	148	Jackie Walker	Defensive back	Tennessee
7	175	Ed Hardy	Guard	Jackson State	started playing for the 49ers in 1973
8	200	Tom Wittum *	Punter	Northern Illinois	started playing for the 49ers in 1973
9	227	Jerry Brown	Defensive back	Northwestern
10	252	Steve Williams	Defensive end	Western Carolina
11	279	Tom Laputka	Defensive end	Southern Illinois
12	304	Steve Setzler	Defensive end	Saint John's (MN)
13	331	Leon Pettigrew	Tackle	Cal State Northridge
14	356	Eric Guthrie	Quarterback	Boise State
15	383	Bob Maddox	Defensive end	Frostburg State	was ineligible to be drafted.
16	408	Ron Davis	Guard	Virginia State
17	435	Ted Alexander	Running back	Langston
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Source:^[6]

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1972 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Team Owner(s) - Josephine Morabito & Jane Morabito General manager / Team President – Louis Spadia Personnel Scout - Dick Gallagher Head coaches Head coach - Dick Nolan Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator - Jim Shofner Quarterbacks / Wide Receivers – Jim Shofner Offensive Backs – Doug Scovil Offensive Line / Blocking – Dick Stanfel

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Mike Giddings Defensive Backfield / Secondary – Don Heinrich Special teams coaches Chet Franklin

Roster

1972 San Francisco 49ers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 John Brodie 19 Joe Reed 11 Steve Spurrier Running backs (RB) 35 Larry Schreiber 24 Jimmy Thomas 22 Vic Washington 40 Ken Willard Wide receivers (WR) 83 Terry Beasley 17 John Isenbarger 85 Preston Riley 18 Gene Washington 88 Dick Witcher Tight ends (TE) 82 Ted Kwalick

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Cas Banaszek T 65 Randy Beisler G 75 Forrest Blue C 66 Elmer Collett G 69 Woody Peoples G 76 Len Rohde T 67 John Watson T Defensive linemen (DL) 72 Bill Belk DE 74 Earl Edwards DT 86 Cedrick Hardman DE 53 Tommy Hart DE 56 Bob Hoskins DT 70 Charlie Krueger DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Ed Beard MLB 57 Frank Nunley MLB 84 Dave Olerich OLB 52 Skip Vanderbundt OLB 64 Dave Wilcox OLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Johnny Fuller FS 43 Windlan Hall SS 37 Jimmy Johnson CB 49 Ralph McGill CB 32 Mel Phillips SS 38 Mike Simpson FS 44 Bruce Taylor CB Special teams (ST) 30 Bruce Gossett K 15 Jim McCann P

Practice squad 77 Jean Barrett T 42 Doug Cunningham RB 87 Jubilee Dunbar WR 63 Ed Hardy G 54 Marty Huff LB 78 Rolf Krueger DE/DT 13 Tom Wittum P Reserve 58 Jim Sniadecki LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 5	vs. New York Jets	L 10–17	0–1	Gator Bowl	41,920
2	August 13	Cleveland Browns	W 20–13	1–1	Candlestick Park	58,364
3	August 19	at San Diego Chargers	L 16–17	1–2	San Diego Stadium	47,308
4	August 27	Denver Broncos	L 24–27	1–3	Candlestick Park	58,115
5	September 3	Oakland Raiders	W 34–21	2–3	Candlestick Park	61,237
6	September 8	at Los Angeles Rams	W 17–14	3–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	60,807

^[7]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	San Diego Chargers	W 34–3	1–0	Candlestick Park	59,438
2	September 24	at Buffalo Bills	L 20–27	1–1	War Memorial Stadium	45,845
3	October 1	at New Orleans Saints	W 37–2	2–1	Tulane Stadium	69,840
4	October 8	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–31	2–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	77,382
5	October 15	New York Giants	L 17–23	2–3	Candlestick Park	58,606
6	October 22	New Orleans Saints	T 20–20	2–3–1	Candlestick Park	59,167
7	October 29	at Atlanta Falcons	W 49–14	3–3–1	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
8	November 5	at Green Bay Packers	L 24–34	3–4–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	47,897
9	November 12	Baltimore Colts	W 24–21	4–4–1	Candlestick Park	61,214
10	November 19	at Chicago Bears	W 34–21	5–4–1	Soldier Field	55,701
11	November 23	at Dallas Cowboys	W 31–10	6–4–1	Texas Stadium	65,124
12	December 4	Los Angeles Rams	L 16–26	6–5–1	Candlestick Park	61,214
13	December 10	Atlanta Falcons	W 20–0	7–5–1	Candlestick Park	61,214
14	December 16	Minnesota Vikings	W 20–17	8–5–1	Candlestick Park	61,214
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	8	5	1	.607	3–2–1	6–4–1	353	249	W2
Atlanta Falcons	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	269	274	L2
Los Angeles Rams	6	7	1	.464	4–2	5–5–1	291	286	L2
New Orleans Saints	2	11	1	.179	1–4–1	2–8–1	215	361	L3

Postseason

See also: 1972–73 NFL playoffs

Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 23	Dallas Cowboys	L 28–30	0–1	Candlestick Park	61,214

Awards and records

Milestones