Why 49ers Fans Hate Mediocre Quarterbacks
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49ers fans have high expectations.
Not only have the 49ers won five Super Bowls, but they modernized NFL offenses and had two of the 10 greatest quarterbacks of all time. So their fans are hard to please. They demand another dynasty AND another great quarterback, and they've been waiting since the '90s.
In one sense, their expectations are unrealistic, because dynasties don't exist in the Salary Cap Era. Look at the Rams -- last season they won the Super Bowl, this season they stink. The lifecycle of an NFL team is short. The closest thing we have seen to a dynasty in the past 25 years was the Patriots, but they're nothing special without Tom Brady. Brady's ability to win Super Bowls with many different rosters only proves his greatness. No one else has been able to do what he has done.
Most 49ers fans understand all of this already. Most 49ers would be more than happy with one more Super Bowl -- forget a dynasty. And most 49ers fans understand that to win that Super Bowl, they need a great quarterback.
It's fair to want a great quarterback. Or at least a Pro Bowler. The 49ers haven't had a Pro Bowl quarterback since Jeff Garcia in 2002 when Steve Mariucci was the head coach. Mariucci wasn't a great coach, but he was hired by Eddie DeBartolo, and worked under Mike Holmgren, and understood the importance of passing.
Since the Yorks took over the team, fired Mariucci and ran Garcia out of town, they have hired an endless string of head coaches who want to run the ball. Who don't seem to value the passing game or the quarterback position. It's as though the Yorks, who are from Youngstown, Ohio, want the 49ers to play Midwest Football, where it's cold and difficult to pass in the winter.
But the 49ers play in California. And their fans grew up rooting for Joe Montana and Steve Young, and have spent the past two decades begrudgingly cheering for game managers such as Alex Smith and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Lots of fan bases would be happy to save solid, steady game managers such as those two. Not the 49ers. The 49ers are the franchise that showed the world in the '80s that football is a quarterback-driven sport.
How long will it take the Yorks to figure out what they should already know?
