RUSHING WITH A GOLDEN GAIT

September 20, 1971

The San Francisco 49ers were once saddled with the nickname Prospectors. It didn't stick, maybe because it called to mind a grizzled band of wizened no-hopers who couldn't make a first down much less win a football game. The 49ers, as is evident from the photographs of some of last year's heroes on the following pages, look nothing like Walter Brennan. And they should look even better this year. In 1970 San Francisco reached the National Conference playoffs—its finest NFL season. This year the 49ers move from grim old Kezar Stadium to Candlestick Park, where they will play on "fourth generation Astroturf," a softer version of the Astrodome rug. A good thing, too, because with an improved running game the 49ers will generate a lot of falls. When the whistle blows, the most upright guy in the house is bound to be Quarterback John Brodie (see cover), due in no small part to his large and solicitous linemen, who call themselves "The Protectors." It rhymes with prospectors, but is a better handle if the 49ers are to be the 71ers and mine that Super Bowl gold.