Founding 49ers

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JKelly
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Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:44 am
Location: Reading Pa

Founding 49ers

Post by JKelly »

I just finished reading Founding 49ers by Dave Newhouse. I was excited to read the book because I was looking forward to learn more about the Joe Thomas debacle, the QB mess after John Brodie and what went on with the 49ers in the sixties. Well I was a little disappointed.

The book did a great job of focusing on the 49ers from their start thru the 1950's but after that it turned into a Lou Spadia biography. Now I know he was a big part of the 49ers up until he resigned due to Mr. Thomas but I would have liked to know more about the team and coaches. If you think about some good/great players the 49ers had like Dave Wilcox, Jimmie Johnson, Bernie Casey, Bruce Taylor, Tommy Hart & Forrest Blue they are hardly mentioned.
There is some focus on QB issues in the 1970's but other than a comment or two from Steve Spurrier and John Brodie you really don't get a feel for what was going on. The Albert/Tittle situation was covered pretty well. The author spent more time interviewing older 49ers ( good for him ) than he did guys that played in the 1970's ( not so good ). I think it's great he had good deal of info about Gordy Soltau but not so great that he had next to nothing about Bernie Casey and just some statistical mentions of Gene Washington. He actually wrote more about Danny Abramowicz than Casey.

But the biggest disappointment is the whole Joe Thomas mess was rushed thru almost like the author was ashamed it happened. I also don't understand if this book is about the 49ers pre dynasty what is the deal with going into the 49ers moving to Santa Clara? One final critical comment some where early on in the forward or acknowledgements he should let the reader know the main interviews with John Brodie were done after he suffered a debilitating stroke that affected his speech. Some quotes attributed to Brodie make him come across like an ass until you find out his situation much later in the book.

So bottom line if you want to know about the 49ers from their start to 1960 ( You will notice the book is just about halfway done by the time you get to 1960 ) and about Lou Spadia then this book for you and it is worth the price.
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