1955 San Francisco 49ers season

1955 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Tony Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Red Strader
Home field	Kezar Stadium
Results
Record	4–8
Division place	5th NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Shows the period uniform the team would have been seen in

The 1955 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League and their 10th overall.

They were coming off a 7–4–1 record in 1954, finishing in 3rd place in the Western Conference.

San Francisco replaced head coach Buck Shaw, who had been the club's only head coach since its founding. The new coach was Red Strader, who had previously been the head coach of the New York Yanks from 1950 to 1951, where he had a record of 8–14–2 in his two seasons there.

The 49ers started the year with 2 losses at home but rebounded with 2 road victories and sat with a .500 record after 4 games. San Francisco split its next 2 games at home and had a 3–3 record. The team then fell into a slump and lost its next 5 games before winning its final game of the season, finishing with a 4–8 record, its worst season since the team's first season in the NFL in 1950, when it finished 3–9.

Offensively, Y. A. Tittle threw for 2185 yards, completing 51.2% of his passes, and had a league-high 17 touchdown passes. However, Tittle had 28 passes that were intercepted. Billy Wilson was Tittle's favorite target, as he had a team-high 53 receptions for 831 yards and 7 touchdowns. Joe Perry led the club by rushing for 701 yards, while Dickie Moegle rushed for a team-high 5 touchdowns.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1955 NFL draft

1955 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	10	Dicky Moegle *	Defensive back	Rice
2	21	Frank Morze	Center	Boston College	began play with 49ers in 1957.
3	34	Carroll Hardy	Halfback	Colorado
4	45	Matt Hazeltine *	Linebacker	California
5	58	Eldred Kraemer	Guard	Pittsburgh
6	69	Bobby Luna	Defensive back	Alabama
7	82	Johnny Dean	Back	VPI
8	93	Freddie Meyers	Back	Oklahoma A&M
9	106	Fred Preziosio	Tackle	Purdue
10	117	Ron Ashbacker	End	Oregon State
11	130	Rudy Rotella	End	Omaha
12	141	Lou Palatella	Guard	Pittsburgh
13	154	Richie Gaskell	End	George Washington
14	165	Nick McKeithan	Back	Duke
15	178	Burdette Hess	Guard	Idaho	signed with Calgary Stampeders (WIFU)
16	189	Jim Hall	End	Auburn
17	202	Bob Newton	Guard	San Diego State
18	213	Ron Pheister	Center	Oregon
19	226	John Garzoli	Tackle	California
20	237	Glen Dyer	Back	Texas
21	250	George Maderos	Defensive back	Chico State
22	261	Pete Vann	Quarterback	Army
23	274	Tom Gunnari	End	Washington State
24	285	Bob Heaston	Guard	Cal Poly
25	298	Dewey Wade	End	Kansas State
26	309	Johnny Kerr	End	Purdue
27	322	Dick Shockey	Back	Marquette
28	333	Don Sanders	Back	Stanford
29	346	Otto Kneidinger	Tackle	Penn State
30	356	Bob Gongola	Back	Illinois
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Source:

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1955 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Team Owner - Tony Morabito General manager – Louis Spadia Head coaches Head coach - Frankie Albert Offensive coaches Chief of Offense / Offensive Coordinator - Red Hickey

Defensive coaches Defensive Assistant – Phil Bengtson Special teams coaches None - N/A

Roster

1955 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks 14 Y.A. Tittle 12 Maury Duncan Running backs 27 Carroll Hardy HB 32 Lem Harkey FB 34 Joe Perry FB 35 John Henry Johnson 39 Hugh McElhenny HB Wide receivers 88 Harry Babcock 26 Ray Renfro Tight ends 70 Billy Wilson TE	Offensive linemen 69 Bob Hantla G 62 Herschel Forester G 64 Doug Hoagland LG 65 Eldred Kraemer G 73 Leo Nomellini 63 Ed Sharkey G 54 Ed Beatty C 53 Bill Johnson C 68 Lou Palatella RG 79 Bob St. Clair RT Defensive linemen 83 Clay Matthews, Sr. 89 Ted Vaught DE 74 Bob Toneff 77 Sid Youngelman DT 75 Ed Carapella 76 Marion Campbell 87 Charley Powell		Linebackers 55 Matt Hazeltine 33 Hardy Brown 86 Tom Stolhandske DE/LB 57 Paul Carr Defensive backs 23 Rex Berry SS 40 George Maderos 47 Dicky Moegle 42 Lowell Wagner DB 22 Joe Arenas Special teams 82 Gordie Soltau 49 Bobby Luna	Reserve lists Vacant rookies in italics

Source:

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 25	Los Angeles Rams	L 14–23	0–1	Kezar Stadium	58,772	Recap
2	October 2	Cleveland Browns	L 3–38	0–2	Kezar Stadium	43,595	Recap
3	October 9	at Chicago Bears	W 20–19	1–2	Wrigley Field	41,651	Recap
4	October 16	at Detroit Lions	W 27–24	2–2	Briggs Stadium	50,179	Recap
5	October 23	Chicago Bears	L 23–34	2–3	Kezar Stadium	56,350	Recap
6	October 30	Detroit Lions	W 38–21	3–3	Kezar Stadium	44,831	Recap
7	November 6	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–27	3–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	71,832	Recap
8	November 13	at Washington Redskins	L 0–7	3–5	Griffith Stadium	25,112	Recap
9	November 20	at Green Bay Packers	L 21–27	3–6	Milwaukee County Stadium	19,099	Recap
10	November 27	Baltimore Colts	L 14–26	3–7	Memorial Stadium	33,485	Recap
11	December 4	Green Bay Packers	L 7–28	3–8	Kezar Stadium	32,897	Recap
12	December 11	Baltimore Colts	W 35–24	4–8	Kezar Stadium	33,471	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams	8	3	1	.727	6–3–1	260	231	W3
Chicago Bears	8	4	0	.667	7–3	294	251	W2
Green Bay Packers	6	6	0	.500	5–5	258	276	L1
Baltimore Colts	5	6	1	.455	5–4–1	214	239	L2
San Francisco 49ers	4	8	0	.333	4–6	216	298	W1
Detroit Lions	3	9	0	.250	2–8	230	275	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

• SHRP Sports
• Database Football