1956 San Francisco 49ers (NFL) |
| 3rd place • Western Conference • 5-6-1 .455 |
| Head Coach: Frankie Albert |
| Phil Bengston | Line |
| Mark Duncan | Defensive Backs |
| Red Hickey | Assistant Coach |
| Bill Johnson | Assistant Coach |
| Joe Vetrano | Assistant Coach |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sun | 8/19/1956 | H | Cleveland Browns | 28-17 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 38741 | |
| Sun | 8/26/1956 | H | Washington Redskins | 20-0 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 27812 | |
| Sun | 9/2/1956 | H | Chicago Cardinals | 14-13 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 28758 | |
| Sun | 9/9/1956 | N | New York Giants | 14-21 | L | Portland, OR | Multnomah Stadium | 28448 | |
| Fri | 9/14/1956 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 24-33 | L | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 57688 | |
| Sun | 9/23/1956 | N | Philadelphia Eagles | 14-21 | L | Sacramento, CA | Hughes Stadium | 20989 | |
| Sun | 9/30/1956 | H | New York Giants | 21-38 | L | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 41751 | |
| Sun | 10/7/1956 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 33-30 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 56489 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1956 | A | Chicago Bears | 7-31 | L | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 47526 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1956 | A | Detroit Lions | 17-20 | L | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 55662 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1956 | H | Chicago Bears | 21-38 | L | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 53612 | |
| Sun | 11/4/1956 | H | Detroit Lions | 13-17 | L | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 46708 | |
| Sun | 11/11/1956 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 6-30 | L | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 69828 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1956 | A | Green Bay Packers | 17-16 | W | Green Bay, WI | City Stadium | 17986 | |
| Sun | 11/25/1956 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 10-10 | T | Philadelphia, PA | Connie Mack Stadium | 19326 | |
| Sun | 12/2/1956 | A | Baltimore Colts | 20-17 | W | Baltimore, MD | Memorial Stadium | 37227 | |
| Sat | 12/8/1956 | H | Green Bay Packers | 38-20 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 32436 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1956 | H | Baltimore Colts | 30-17 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 43791 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Joe Arenas | 22 | ROH-LOH | 5-11 | 180 | 31 | Nebraska-Omaha | 12 | 9 |
| Ed Beatty | 54 | MLB-C | 6-3 | 229 | 24 | Mississippi | 12 | 10 |
| Rex Berry | 23 | LS-LDH | 5-11 | 181 | 32 | Carbon JC; Brigham Young | 12 | 9 |
| Bruce Bosley | 77 | LDE | 6-2 | 241 | 23 | West Virginia | 12 | 12 |
| Fred Bruney | 45 | RS | 5-10 | 184 | 25 | Ohio State | 4 | 1 |
| Paul Carr | 57 | RDH | 6-0 | 205 | 25 | Citrus JC; Houston | 12 | 11 |
| Clyde Conner | 86 | LOE | 6-2 | 193 | 23 | Pacific | 10 | 3 |
| Ted Connolly | 64 | ROG-LOG | 6-3 | 242 | 25 | Santa Clara; Tulsa | 5 | 5 |
| Bobby Cross | 78 | LOT | 6-4 | 248 | 25 | Kilgore JC; Stephen F. Austin State | 12 | 11 |
| Paul Goad | 36 | FB | 6-0 | 195 | 22 | Tulane; Abilene Christian | 4 | 0 |
| John Gonzaga | 76 | MLB | 6-3 | 247 | 23 | none | 9 | 0 |
| Matt Hazeltine | 55 | RLB | 6-1 | 220 | 23 | California | 12 | 12 |
| Ed Henke | 75 | ROG-RDE-LOT | 6-3 | 227 | 29 | Ventura JC; Southern California | 12 | 12 |
| Bill Herchman | 72 | RDT | 6-2 | 246 | 23 | Tyler JC; Texas Tech | 12 | 11 |
| Bobby Holladay | 27 | LS | 5-11 | 177 | 24 | Tulsa | 7 | 5 |
| Billy Jessup | 85 | ROH-P-OE | 6-1 | 195 | 27 | Long Beach CC; Southern California | 3 | 1 |
| Bill Johnson | 53 | C | 6-3 | 228 | 30 | Texas A&M; Tyler JC | 7 | 7 |
| John Henry Johnson | 35 | FB-ROH-LOH | 6-2 | 210 | 27 | St. Mary's (California); Arizona State | 12 | 6 |
| George Maderos | 40 | LDH | 6-1 | 187 | 23 | Chico State | 12 | 7 |
| Tom McCormick | 43 | LOH-ROH | 5-11 | 185 | 26 | Menlo; Pacific | 6 | 0 |
| Hugh McElhenny | 39 | LOH | 6-1 | 197 | 28 | Compton JC; Washington | 12 | 11 |
| Dicky Moegle | 47 | RS-LOH | 6-0 | 190 | 22 | Rice | 12 | 12 |
| Earl Morrall | 11 | QB-P | 6-2 | 205 | 22 | Michigan State | 12 | 4 |
| George Morris | 52 | C | 6-3 | 220 | 25 | Georgia Tech | 10 | 4 |
| Leo Nomellini | 73 | LDT | 6-3 | 259 | 32 | Minnesota | 12 | 12 |
| Lou Palatella | 68 | ROG-LOG | 6-2 | 230 | 23 | Pittsburgh | 10 | 2 |
| Joe Perry | 34 | FB | 6-0 | 203 | 29 | Compton JC | 11 | 8 |
| Charley Powell | 87 | RDE-MLB | 6-2 | 226 | 24 | none | 12 | 8 |
| Leo Rucka | 50 | LLB | 6-3 | 212 | 25 | Rice | 5 | 3 |
| Floyd Sagely | 42 | DB | 6-1 | 192 | 24 | Arkansas | 3 | 0 |
| Bob St. Clair | 79 | ROT | 6-8 | 263 | 25 | San Francisco; Tulsa | 12 | 12 |
| Tony Sardisco | 65 | MLB | 6-2 | 226 | 24 | Tulane | 3 | 1 |
| Ed Sharkey | 64 | LLB-LOG | 6-3 | 229 | 29 | Duke; Nevada-Reno | 7 | 6 |
| Stan Sheriff | 50 | LLB | 6-1 | 224 | 24 | Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) | 7 | 6 |
| Charley Smith | 80 | RDE-LDE | 6-2 | 205 | 23 | Abilene Christian | 12 | 0 |
| Ernie Smith | 42 | RDH | 6-3 | 190 | 26 | San Diego CC; Compton JC | 3 | 1 |
| J.D. Smith | 24 | DB | 6-1 | 205 | 24 | North Carolina A&T State | 5 | 0 |
| Jerry Smith | 69 | ROG | 6-1 | 230 | 26 | Wisconsin | 2 | 0 |
| Gordy Soltau | 82 | LOE-K | 6-2 | 195 | 31 | Minnesota | 12 | 9 |
| Y.A. Tittle | 14 | QB | 6-0 | 182 | 30 | Louisiana State | 11 | 8 |
| Bob Toneff | 74 | LOG-ROG-RDT | 6-2 | 260 | 26 | Notre Dame | 12 | 9 |
| Billy Wilson | 84 | ROE | 6-3 | 191 | 29 | San Jose State | 12 | 12 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 2 | Earl Morrall | QB | Michigan State |
| 2 | 15 | Bruce Bosley | T | West Virginia |
| 3 | 26 | Bill Herchman | T | Texas Tech |
| 4 | 40 | Frank Pajaczkowski | B | Richmond |
| 6 | 64 | Tony Sardisco | LB | Tulane |
| 7 | 75 | Larry Barnes | B | Colorado State |
| 8 | 88 | Charley Smith | E | Abilene Christian |
| 9 | 99 | Jim Cox | E | Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) |
| 10 | 112 | Jerry Zaleski | B | Colorado State |
| 11 | 123 | Stew Pell | T | North Carolina |
| 12 | 136 | Rodger Swedberg | T | Iowa |
| 13 | 147 | Ralph Moody | B | Kansas |
| 14 | 160 | R.C. Owens | E | College of Idaho |
| 15 | 171 | Reed Henderson | T | Utah State |
| 15 | 172 | Gene Boyd | B | Abilene Christian |
| 16 | 184 | George Herring | QB | Southern Mississippi |
| 17 | 195 | Dick Weiss | T | Mississippi |
| 18 | 208 | Billy Yelverton | T | Mississippi |
| 19 | 219 | Pete Arrigoni | B | Arizona |
| 20 | 232 | Bob Scarbrough | C | Auburn |
| 21 | 243 | L.C. Joyner | E | Diablo Valley JC |
| 22 | 256 | Clarence Wessman | E | San Jose State |
| 23 | 267 | Mike Monroe | B | Washington |
| 24 | 280 | Ed Wallace | T | San Diego JC |
| 25 | 291 | Paul Goad | B | Abilene Christian |
| 26 | 304 | Rommie Loudd | E | UCLA |
| 27 | 315 | Jerry Gustafson | QB | Stanford |
| 28 | 328 | Jerry Drew | B | California |
| 29 | 339 | Dean Benson | G | Willamette |
| 30 | 351 | Bob Mitchell | T | Puget Sound |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 37 | 67 | 41 | 88 | 233 |
| Opponents Totals | 71 | 77 | 82 | 54 | 284 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 221 | 101 | 107 | 13 | / % | / % | 57 | 562 | |
| Opponents Totals | 236 | 124 | 103 | 9 | / % | / % | 37 | 321 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordy Soltau | 1 | 26 | 28 | 92.9 | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 0 | 71 |
| Hugh McElhenny | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| Billy Wilson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Y.A. Tittle | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Joe Arenas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Joe Perry | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| John Henry Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Clyde Conner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Dicky Moegle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 28 | 26 | 28 | 92.9 | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 0 | 233 |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 32 | 35 | 91.4 | 14 | 25 | 56.0 | 0 | 284 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordy Soltau | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 2 | 40 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 5/8 | 1/2 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 2 | 40 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 5/8 | 1/2 | 0/0 |
| Opponents Totals | 14 | 25 | 56.0 | 7/ | 3/ | 2/ | 2/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh McElhenny | 185 | 916 | 5.0 | 86t | 8 |
| Joe Perry | 115 | 520 | 4.5 | 39 | 3 |
| John Henry Johnson | 80 | 301 | 3.8 | 54 | 2 |
| Y.A. Tittle | 24 | 67 | 2.8 | 13 | 4 |
| Dicky Moegle | 7 | 18 | 2.6 | 12 | 0 |
| Earl Morrall | 6 | 10 | 1.7 | 8 | 0 |
| Tom McCormick | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 419 | 1836 | 4.4 | 86t | 17 |
| Opponents Totals | 481 | 2192 | 4.6 | 59t | 23 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y.A. Tittle | 218 | 124 | 56.9 | 82 | 1641 | 7.5 | 13.2 | 77t | 7 | 3.2 | 12 | 5.5 | 249 | 1392 | 68.6 | |
| Earl Morrall | 78 | 38 | 48.7 | 34 | 621 | 8.0 | 16.3 | 37 | 1 | 1.3 | 6 | 7.7 | 36 | 585 | 48.1 | |
| Hugh McElhenny | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 297 | 162 | 54.5 | 116 | 2262 | 7.6 | 14.0 | 77t | 8 | 2.7 | 19 | 6.4 | 285 | 1977 | 61.6 | |
| Opponents Totals | 279 | 147 | 52.7 | 115 | 2115 | 7.6 | 14.4 | 69t | 12 | 4.3 | 17 | 6.1 | 145 | 1970 | 66.5 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Wilson | 60 | 889 | 14.8 | 77t | 5 |
| Clyde Conner | 22 | 362 | 16.5 | 49 | 1 |
| Gordy Soltau | 18 | 299 | 16.6 | 33 | 1 |
| Joe Perry | 18 | 104 | 5.8 | 20 | 0 |
| Hugh McElhenny | 16 | 193 | 12.1 | 22 | 0 |
| Joe Arenas | 14 | 226 | 16.1 | 50 | 1 |
| John Henry Johnson | 8 | 90 | 11.3 | 28 | 0 |
| Dicky Moegle | 3 | 79 | 26.3 | 37 | 0 |
| Billy Jessup | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 10 | 0 |
| Charley Smith | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 2262 | 14.0 | 77t | 8 |
| Opponents Totals | 147 | 2115 | 14.4 | 69t | 12 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dicky Moegle | 6 | 75 | 12.5 | 31t | 1 |
| Rex Berry | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 20 | 0 |
| Paul Carr | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 11 | 0 |
| George Maderos | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Matt Hazeltine | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Ed Sharkey | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Bobby Holladay | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Smith | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 17 | 126 | 7.4 | 31t | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 19 | 330 | 17.4 | 35 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Morrall | 45 | 1705 | 37.9 | 57 | 0 | |||||
| Billy Jessup | 14 | 563 | 40.2 | 63 | 0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 59 | 2268 | 38.4 | 63 | 0 | 123 | 36.4 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 42 | 1709 | 40.7 | 56 | 0 | 160 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Arenas | 19 | 117 | 6.2 | 67t | 1 | |
| Hugh McElhenny | 15 | 38 | 2.5 | 12 | 0 | |
| Dicky Moegle | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 35 | 160 | 4.6 | 67t | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 123 | 3.5 | 16 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Arenas | 27 | 801 | 29.7 | 96t | 1 | |
| Hugh McElhenny | 13 | 300 | 23.1 | 36 | 0 | |
| Dicky Moegle | 2 | 39 | 19.5 | 22 | 0 | |
| George Maderos | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 12 | 0 | |
| John Henry Johnson | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Paul Goad | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Tom McCormick | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Charley Smith | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Paul Carr | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 | |
| John Gonzaga | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Bill Herchman | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 51 | 1257 | 24.6 | 96t | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 42 | 988 | 23.5 | 45 | 0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Arenas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ed Beatty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Rex Berry | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bruce Bosley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Clyde Conner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bill Herchman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Holladay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| John Henry Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| George Maderos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hugh McElhenny | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Earl Morrall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| George Morris | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Leo Nomellini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Perry | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Leo Rucka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Sardisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Stan Sheriff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Smith | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Y.A. Tittle | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Billy Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 17 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 27 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 0 |
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