Glenn Dickey of The S.F. Chronicle: When Cordileone heard about the trade, he thought somebody was kidding him. "They traded me for Tittle? Just me?" he said. Tittle went to three title games with the Giants and ultimately to the Hall of Fame. Cordileone lasted one year with the 49ers. The trade was made because 49er coach Red Hickey thought the shotgun formation was the answer for the 49ers, with the quarterback Either passing or running, much as in the old single wing. Tittle, though he'd played tailback in the single wing in college, could not run. Opponents quickly solved the shotgun and it was discarded early in the season, but by that time, Tittle was gone.

He almost didn't report to the Giants, though. He had a thriving insurance business in Palo Alto and feared it would Disappear if he were playing for another team. His friend, broadcaster Bob Fouts, talked him into going to the Giants. His career got a boost and his life insurance company is still thriving.

Peter Read Miller

Glenn Dickey of The S.F. Chronicle: I doubt there will be a serious fan reaction. The fans still love him, as the last connection to the great years, but most of them understand that he isn't the great receiver he was and that the team isn't going to the Super Bowl, with or without him.

Jarrod Leder, St. Paul, Minn. It will break my heart when Jerry Rice suits up for any other team than the 49ers. I understand why he has to leave and I think that the salary cap rules are a good thing for the sport. I think it would break my heart more if the NFL's economics became like baseball's are currently. But, more than Joe Montana playing for the Chiefs, Jerry Rice is a 49er and will always be a 49er. It will break my heart to see him go anywhere else.

Alfredo Gorráez, Querétaro, Mexico What could be worse than seeing Jerry Rice in another uniform?? I'm not really sure I can stand that, the same man who caught all those TD passes from Montana and Young season after season and Super Bowl after Super Bowl wearing, say, the Lions uniform? the Saints uniform? the Cowboys uniform? Please, someone help me!

Ronnie Lott's ultra-intense attitude was the counterbalance to Montana's cool demeanor.  Otto Greule/Allsport

Glenn Dickey of The S.F. Chronicle: Aside from Montana, letting Lott go was the source of the greatest fan outrage. This was seriously mishandled by the 49ers. You may remember that Lott and Craig were both put on Plan B, the farcical arrangement the NFL adopted to try to head off true free agency. The 49ers thought other teams would balk at Lott's salary and they'd then re-sign him after the 30-day period.

George Seifert, who had been the defensive backfield coach when Lott was a rookie, was assigned to explain it to Lott but George only managed to offend him. Lott stalked out and signed with the Raiders. The 49ers didn't think he had more than a year left, and they were probably right. Lott played three more years, I believe, but he was really only effective for that first year.

The 49ers wanted Craig back only because they wanted him to retire as a 49er. He had nothing left, which he proved with one average season with the Raiders and two forgettable years at Minnesota. The Niners signed him for a day in training camp a few years later so he could officially retire as a 49er. As I remember, there really wasn't much fan outrage about Craig leaving, but there certainly was for Lott.

A Necessary, Yet Disturbing, Move The San Francisco Chronicle -- March 27, 1991 By Glenn Dickey Fans, and many writers, tend to remember great players as they were, not as they are. A realistic evaluation of Lott would show a once-great player who can only occasionally rise to those levels now; he did it twice last year, in the opener against New Orleans and against the New York Giants.   SI Flashback Backbone and Courage A Hitter with Heart   A team on the level of last season's 49ers, striving for a record third straight Super Bowl championship, could afford to have a player who could make the difference in a couple of key games. But the 49ers are not going to be that kind of team next season. A football team is not a retirement home for players. The 49ers need to start the rebuilding process that has been put on hold the past two years. They can't be swayed by the emotionalism of fans and writers. DeBartolo often cites the example of the great Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the '70s, which fell because coach Chuck Noll stayed too long with his star players. DeBartolo also has the example of his former coach, Bill Walsh, who kept the 49ers at a consistent playoff level throughout the '80s by trading, cutting or forcing reluctant veterans into retirement. Fans and media made a fuss when Walsh moved out Wendell Tyler and Freddie Solomon, but that didn't last long when the replacements were Roger Craig and Jerry Rice. Dwight Clark, Hacksaw Reynolds, John Ayers, Keith Fahnhorst and Fred Quillan weren't ready to retire on Walsh's schedule, either, but nobody would dispute those decisions now.

Craig Tells Why He Left: Staying with 49ers was a given until he was put on Plan B The San Francisco Chronicle -- April 5, 1991 By Lowell Cohn When Roger Craig woke up Monday, he knew he had to choose between the 49ers and the Raiders. It sickened him to be in that position.    Heinz Kluetmeier He left the house at 6:30 a.m. and drove to an 80-yard-long grass field that slopes upward at a 30-degree angle. He sprinted uphill many times, working up a sweat, punishing his legs into shape for next season. Then he drove to a gymnasium and worked out with weights. The weights seemed heavier than usual that day, almost too heavy to lift. But then, everything seemed heavy Monday morning. He took a shower and left the gym. He got into his car, and he remembers driving, but he doesn't remember how long he drove or where he went. He just saw freeway, and sometimes he didn't even see that. Instead, he'd see what he later referred to as "flashes." Last season would flash before his eyes, so would his injured knee, and then the phrase ''Plan B'' would flash into his consciousness, the knowledge that the 49ers had not protected him. "All that was coming around me," he would say a few days later. "I lost track of the road. I cried. I'm man enough to say it." A few times, his car phone rang, and that was his agent calling to say how negotiations were going with the Raiders. Craig would hang up and say, ''Wow, this is the day. What am I going to do?'' He never imagined being in this position. Until the 49ers had allowed him to become a Plan B free agent, Craig never once thought of leaving San Francisco. He was going to end his career here. That was a given -- like the sun coming up in the morning. And now he was in his car, contemplating going somewhere else. He tried to describe his feelings and he was shocked to notice that his heart burned. He told himself it was like falling in love with somebody, then getting dumped.

Daniel Remberth, Jakarta, Indonesia It broke my heart when the Niners decided to let Ronnie Lott go. And he came back to haunt us when he was playing with the Raiders. Remember, If the Niners could have beaten the Raiders that season. Their record would have been 11-5 and enough to put them in the playoffs. That was the only year they missed the postseason during the Montana/Young era.

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