How 49ers CEO Jed York has Differentiated Himself from Eddie DeBartolo

Each took over the team as young men, but DeBartolo had lots of success early on while York has yet to win his first Super Bowl.

For nearly 20 years, Jed York has tried to live up to the legacy of his uncle Eddie DeBarolo Jr.

Each took over the team as young men, but DeBartolo had lots of success early on while York has yet to win his first Super Bowl. Every year it seems he's on the verge of winning one, but then he doesn't.

And that's his legacy. York is the owner whose team gets to the Super Bowl and loses -- the 49ers are 0-3 in the Super Bowl under York. They lost once with Jim Harbaugh and twice with Kyle Shanahan.

As opposed to DeBartolo, whose teams got to the Super Bowl and won -- the 49ers were 5-0 in the Super Bowl under DeBartolo. They won three times with Bill Walsh and twice with George Seifert.

When DeBartolo was the owner, his teams were prepared and professional in the Super Bowl. With York as the owner, the 49ers don't even know the playoff rules for overtime.

This past offseason, 49ers analytics guru Paraag Marathe compared DeBartolo's 49ers to a lemonade stand in order to illustrate how much the organization has grown since those days. And in a way, the organization has grown, because these days it cares more about money than championships.

DeBartolo would spare no expense, and he mostly likely would have fired Kyle Shanahan by now -- remember, DeBartolo fired Seifert after two Super Bowl victories. York is happy simply because the money is rolling in and the 49ers are relevant.

DeBartolo would be out of his skull after giving away another Super Bowl. That's the difference between them.