1946 San Francisco 49ers season

1946 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Tony Morabito
General manager	John Blackinger
Head coach	Buck Shaw
Home field	Kezar Stadium
Local radio	KYA
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	2nd AAFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1946 San Francisco 49ers season was the inaugural season of the San Francisco 49ers and the first season of the All-America Football Conference. Led by head coach Buck Shaw, the team compiled a 9–5 record and finished second in the AAFC West Division. The 49ers also had the second best scoring offense (307 points scored) in the AAFC.

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Frankie Albert with 1,404 passing yards, fullback Norm Standlee with 651 rushing yards, and end Alyn Beals with 586 receiving yards and 61 points scored.

Personnel

Staff

1946 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Principal Owner – Tony Morabito General Manager – John Blackinger Head coaches Head coach – Buck Shaw Offensive coaches Lines – Albert J. Ruffo

Defensive coaches Ends – Jim Lawson

Roster

The following table lists the final roster for the 49ers in the 1946 season.

1946 San Francisco 49ers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 63 Frankie Albert QB 83 Ken Casanega QB 62 Jesse Freitas Sr. QB Running backs (RB) 93 Don Durdan HB 81 Len Eshmont HB 82 Pete Franceschi HB 64 Parker Hall TB 73 Ned Mathews WB 84 Earle Parsons HB 73 Dick Renfro FB 74 Ken Roskie FB 72 Norm Standlee FB 91 Johnny Strzykalski HB 82 Joe Vetrano HB Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL) 33 Bruno Banducci G 36 Dick Bassi G 22 Gerry Conlee C 21 Dutch Elston C 34 Eddie Forrest G 32 Garland Gregory G 49 Visco Grgich G 37 Charles Pavlich G 23 Bill Remington C 35 Rupe Thornton G Defensive linemen (DL) 57 Ed Balatti E 53 Alyn Beals E 42 Bob Bryant T 56 Bill Fisk E 47 John Kuzman T 45 John Mellus T 55 Hank Norberg E 58 Nick Susoeff E 51 Bob Titchenal E 41 John Woudenberg T

Linebackers (LB) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams

Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	August 24	vs. Los Angeles Dons	W 17–7	1–0	Balboa Stadium
2	September 1	at Chicago Rockets	W 34–14	2–0	Soldier Field

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 8	New York Yankees	L 7–21	0–1	Kezar Stadium	Recap
2	September 15	Miami Seahawks	W 21–14	1–1	Kezar Stadium	Recap
3	September 22	Brooklyn Dodgers	W 32–13	2–1	Kezar Stadium	Recap
4	September 29	at Chicago Rockets	L 7–24	2–2	Soldier Field	Recap
5	October 8	at Miami Seahawks	W 34–7	3–2	Burdine Stadium	Recap
6	October 12	at Los Angeles Dons	W 23–14	4–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
7	October 19	at Buffalo Bisons	L 14–17	4–3	Civic Stadium	Recap
8	October 27	at Cleveland Browns	W 34–20	5–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	Recap
9	November 2	Buffalo Bisons	W 27–14	6–3	Kezar Stadium	Recap
10	November 10	Cleveland Browns	L 7–14	6–4	Kezar Stadium	Recap
11	November 17	at New York Yankees	L 9–10	6–5	Yankee Stadium	Recap
12	November 24	at Brooklyn Dodgers	W 30–14	7–5	Ebbets Field	Recap
13	November 30	Chicago Rockets	W 14–0	8–5	Kezar Stadium	Recap
14	December 8	Los Angeles Dons	W 48–7	9–5	Kezar Stadium	Recap
15	Bye
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

All game reports use the Pro Football Researchers' gamebook archive as a source.

Week 1: vs. New York Yankees

Week 1: New York Yankees at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Yankees	0	7	7	7	21
49ers	7	0	0	0	7

at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California

• Game attendance: 35,000
• Boxscore

Game information
First quarter SF – Len Eshmont 40-yard pass from Frankie Albert (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 7–0. Second quarter NY – Lowell Wagner 40-yard blocked punt return (Harvey Johnson kick). Tied 7–7. Third quarter NY – Ace Parker 7-yard rush (Harvey Johnson kick). Yankees 14–7. Fourth quarter NY – Dewey Proctor 3-yard rush (Harvey Johnson kick). Yankees 21–7.

Week 2: vs. Miami Seahawks

Week 2: Miami Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Seahawks	7	0	0	7	14
49ers	7	7	7	0	21

at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California

• Game attendance: 25,000
• Boxscore

Game information

First quarter SF – Dick Renfro ?-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 7–0. MIA – Lamar Davis 22-yard pass from Marion Pugh (Dick Erdlitz kick). Tied 7–7. Second quarter SF – Dick Renfro 5-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 14–7. Third quarter SF – Dick Renfro 3-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 21–7. Fourth quarter MIA – Prince Scott 30-yard pass from Cotton Price (Dick Erdlitz kick). 49ers 21–14.

Week 3: vs. Brooklyn Dodgers

Week 3: Brooklyn Dodgers at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Dodgers	7	0	0	6	13
49ers	7	12	13	0	32

at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California

• Game attendance: 35,000
• Boxscore

Game information

First quarter BDA – Mickey Colmer 27-yard pass from Lew Mayne (Jim McCarthy kick). Dodgers 7–0. SF – Len Eshmont 5-yard rush (John Mellus kick). Tied 7–7. Second quarter SF – Len Eshmont 35-yard pass from Frankie Albert. 49ers 13–7. SF – Alyn Beals 43-yard pass from Frankie Albert. 49ers 19–7. Third quarter SF – Bob Titchenal 42-yard pass from Len Eshmont. 49ers 25–7. SF – Frankie Albert 10-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 32–7. Fourth quarter BDA – Neal Adams 7-yard pass from Glenn Dobbs. 49ers 32–13.

Week 4: at Chicago Rockets

Week 4: San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Rockets – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	0	0	7	7
Rockets	0	3	14	7	24

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Game attendance: 36,875
• Boxscore

Game information

Second quarter CHR – Steve Nemeth 20-yard field goal. Rockets 3–0. Third quarter CHR – Elroy Hirsch 8-yard pass from Bob Hoernschemeyer (Steve Nemeth kick). Rockets 10–0. CHR – Bill Kellagher 3-yard rush (Steve Nemeth kick). Rockets 17–0. Fourth quarter SF – Len Eshmont 2-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). Rockets 17–7. CHR – Ralph Heywood 15-yard pass from Bob Hoernschemeyer (Steve Nemeth kick). Rockets 24–7.

Week 5: at Miami Seahawks

Week 5: San Francisco 49ers at Miami Seahawks – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	7	7	13	34
Seahawks	0	0	0	7	7

at Orange Bowl, Miami, Seahawks

• Game attendance: 7,621
• Boxscore

Game information

First quarter SF – Len Eshmont 2-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 7–0. Second quarter SF – Alyn Beals 12-yard pass from Jesse Freitas (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 14–0. Third quarter SF – Earle Parsons 24-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 21–0. Fourth quarter MIA – Prince Scott 4-yard pass from Jimmy Tarrant (Dick Erdlitz kick). 49ers 21–7. SF – Pete Franceschi 8-yard rush. 49ers 27–7. SF – John Kuzman 72-yard fumble return (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 34–7.

Week 6: at Los Angeles Dons

Week 6: San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Dons – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	10	7	0	6	23
Dons	0	7	7	0	14

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Game attendance: 12,500
• Boxscore

Game information

First quarter SF – Joe Vetrano 26-yard field goal. 49ers 3–0. SF – Alyn Beals 5-yard pass from Frankie Albert (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 10–0. Second quarter LA – Andy Marefos 1-yard rush (Joe Aguirre kick). 49ers 10–7. Third quarter SF – Frankie Albert 5-yard rush (Joe Vetrano kick). 49ers 17–7. LA – Bob Nowaskey 35-yard interception return (Joe Aguirre kick). 49ers 17–14. Fourth quarter SF – Earle Parsons 66-yard rush. 49ers 23–14.

Standings

AAFC Western Division
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	12	2	0	.857	4–2	423	137	W5
San Francisco 49ers	9	5	0	.643	4–2	307	189	W3
Los Angeles Dons	7	5	2	.583	2–3–1	305	290	T1
Chicago Rockets	5	6	3	.455	1–4–1	263	315	T1

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