SAN FRANCISCO – Imagine Brock Purdy showing up on a red carpet 40 years from now. Joining him are a cavalry of superstar sidekicks, some of whom might be in high school right now.
“Brock, Brock, how did you turn the 49ers’ franchise back into a Super Bowl winner?”
Future 49ers champions still won’t match the Team of the ’80s in terms of a storybook dynasty that carried into the ’90s.
That past glory, even after all these years, is impressively celebrated in a docuseries, “Rise of the 49ers,” that airs on AMC’s broadcast network Sunday and Monday nights. It will be devoured by the 49ers Faithful’s malnourished soul that has craved another championship for 31 years.
What will it take for the 49ers to again go on a Super Bowl-winning spree and command a “Rise of the 49ers” sequel?
“It takes something special to be able to sustain greatness, if you want to call it that,” former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo said at Tuesday’s documentary debut in the Mission.
A string of five playoff runs in the past seven years borders on great, but that also included a pair of Super Bowl defeats (2019, 2023). Coach Kyle Shanahan’s ninth season, besieged by injuries to star players, ended with a wild-card win at defending champion Philadelphia before a 41-6 suffocation in Seattle.
Steve Young, while appearing with DeBartolo and other team icons at Tuesday’s premiere, envisions Shanahan as playing a pivotal role in the 49ers’ next stage, if his offense evolves faster than others.
“Kyle has had a tactical advantage for 10 years, eight years. He and Andy (Reid), Sean (Payton). They saw the changes and recognized what it allowed and how to attack,” Young said. “They had that tactical advantage. Now it’s everywhere.
“Now you have to reinvent yourself again,” Young continued. “I give him credit, he did it this year. He reinvented himself again. If they’re going to go to the Super Bowl in the future, it’s going to because of him, and ‘The 2026 draft was the best we’ve had in 15 years,’ and, ‘The ’25 draft ended up being really good.’”
All 11 picks from last year’s draft remain with the 49ers, although none started more than half the season, led by first-round pick Mykel Williams (nine), safety Marques Sigle (seven, plus the divisional-playoff loss), guard Gonnor Colby (six) and nickel back Upton Stout (four).
Come late April’s draft, the 49ers have their original pick in the first four rounds (No. 28 overall to start), plus potentially three more compensatory picks (two in the fourth round, one in the fifth).
Shanahan is under the 49ers’ contractual control through 2028. He and general manager John Lynch harmoniously crafted a perennial contender since taking over a 2-14, talent-drained franchise in 2017.
The 49ers also were coming off a two-win season when DeBartolo hired Bill Walsh as coach in 1979, and Joe Montana vividly recalls how the 49ers were so desperate for talent that mass tryouts would occur after Saturday practices.
“It was how Bill put the team together,” Montana said. “You look at some of the guys who started it, like Ronnie. You don’t have to like the guy next to you but you have to respect him and play with him and work together.
“There’s too many things in this world that make us all different, but when you find a way to work together, it becomes pretty special,” Montana said. “That’s what happened with these teams.”
Next season could dictate whether the 49ers can achieve “special” status, as it could be the final run for Purdy’s aging cast on offense, including left tackle Trent Williams, running back Christian McCaffrey and fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Tight end George Kittle (Achilles), wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee), linebacker Fred Warner (ankle) and defensive ends Nick Bosa (knee) and Mykel Williams (knee) are all coming off significant injuries and their healthy returns are crucial to complement the increasingly young supporting cast that will dictate the 49ers’ future.
“It’s going to come down to the players, the leaders and those guys are going to have to totally commit to winning the whole thing,” Jerry Rice said. “The coaches, they can make the calls but it’s still up to the players to go out there and make it happen. That’s what we did back in the day. We made it happen because we wanted to do it for the city of San Francisco.
“I’m serious, it was important for us to win for this city,” Rice continued. “Eddie DeBartolo, the greatest owner ever, the way we’d travel and stay in the best hotels, all he wanted us to do was win, and that’s what we did.”
They won Super Bowls. Five of them. And counting?
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