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1961 San Francisco 49ers season
1961 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Victor Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Howard Hickey
Home field	Kezar Stadium
Results
Record	7–6–1
Division place	5th NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1960; 49ers seasons; 1962 →;

Official team media guide for the 1961 season, touting coach Red Hickey's "Shotgun Offense", unveiled the previous year.

The 1961 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 12th season in the National Football League, their 16th overall, and their second season under head coach Red Hickey.

The 49ers attempted to improve on their 7-5 season from the previous season, and make the playoffs for the first time since 1957. However, despite starting the season 4-1, they would lose 5 of their last 8 games, finishing their season 7-6-1, and they missed the playoffs for the 4th straight year.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1961 San Francisco 49ers draft
1	6	Jimmy Johnson * ^†	DB	UCLA
1	9	Bernie Casey *	HB	Bowling Green
1	11	Billy Kilmer *	QB	UCLA
2	24	Roland Lakes	DT	Wichita
3	37	Bill Cooper	FB	Muskingum
4	47	Aaron Thomas *	TE	Oregon State
4	52	Dale Messer	HB	Fresno State
5	58	Clark Miller	DE	Utah State	Later played with 49ers from 1962–68
5	65	Bob McCreary	T	Wake Forest
6	80	Mike McClellan	DB	Oklahoma
7	93	Ray Purdin	B	Northwestern	signed by Saskatchewan Roughriders (CFL)
8	108	Neill Plumley	T	Oregon
9	118	Leon Donohue	G	San Jose State	Later played with the 49ers from 1962–64
9	121	Evaristo Nino	T	East Texas State
10	136	Paul Hynes	DB	Louisiana Tech	signed with Dallas Texans (AFL)
11	149	Tony Parrilli	G	Illinois
12	164	Don Coffey	WR	Memphis State
13	174	Tommy Hackler	E	Tennessee Tech
13	177	Julius Fincke	T	McNeese State
14	192	Bill Worrell	T	Georgia
15	205	Bob Sams	T	Central State (OK)
16	220	Charley Fuller	HB	San Francisco State	signed by Oakland Raiders (AFL)
17	233	Tom Jewell	T	Idaho State
18	248	Kay McFarland	WR	Colorado State	Played the 1961 season with CSU
19	261	Tom Simpson	T	Davidson
20	276	Jerry Perry	G	Central State (OK)
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 12	vs. New York Giants	L 20–21	0–1	Multnomah Stadium	24,084
2	August 21	Cleveland Browns	L 24–27	0–2	Kezar Stadium	38,759
3	August 26	Minnesota Vikings	W 14–10	1–2	Multnomah Stadium	27,044
4	September 1	at Los Angeles Rams	W 38–20	2–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	42,558
5	September 9	vs. Dallas Cowboys	W 24–7	3–2	Hughes Stadium	22,130

^[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 17	Washington Redskins	W 35–3	1–0	Kezar Stadium	43,412	Recap
2	September 24	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–30	1–1	New City Stadium	38,624	Recap
3	October 1	at Detroit Lions	W 49–0	2–1	Tiger Stadium	53,155	Recap
4	October 8	Los Angeles Rams	W 35–0	3–1	Kezar Stadium	59,004	Recap
5	October 15	at Minnesota Vikings	W 38–24	4–1	Metropolitan Stadium	34,415	Recap
6	October 22	at Chicago Bears	L 0–31	4–2	Wrigley Field	49,070	Recap
7	October 29	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–20	4–3	Forbes Field	19,686	Recap
8	November 5	Detroit Lions	T 20–20	4–3–1	Kezar Stadium	56,878	Recap
9	November 12	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–17	4–4–1	L.A. Memorial Coliseum	63,766	Recap
10	November 19	Chicago Bears	W 41–31	5–4–1	Kezar Stadium	52,972	Recap
11	November 26	Minnesota Vikings	W 38–28	6–4–1	Kezar Stadium	48,905	Recap
12	December 3	at Baltimore Colts	L 17–20	6–5–1	Memorial Stadium	57,641	Recap
13	December 10	Green Bay Packers	W 22–21	7–5–1	Kezar Stadium	55,722	Recap
14	December 16	Baltimore Colts	L 27–24	7–6–1	Kezar Stadium	45,517	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Program for the November 5 game against the visiting Detroit Lions.

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	11	3	0	.786	9–3	391	223	W1
Detroit Lions	8	5	1	.615	7–4–1	270	258	L1
Chicago Bears	8	6	0	.571	7–5	326	302	W2
Baltimore Colts	8	6	0	.571	6–6	302	307	W1
San Francisco 49ers	7	6	1	.538	6–5–1	346	272	L1
Los Angeles Rams	4	10	0	.286	3–9	263	333	L1
Minnesota Vikings	3	11	0	.214	3–9	285	407	L2

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

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	3	1	.769	9–2–1	368	220	T1
Philadelphia Eagles	10	4	0	.714	8–4	361	297	W1
Cleveland Browns	8	5	1	.615	8–3–1	319	270	T1
St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	0	.500	7–5	279	267	W3
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	8	0	.429	5–7	295	287	L1
Dallas Cowboys	4	9	1	.308	2–9–1	236	380	L4
Washington Redskins	1	12	1	.077	1–10–1	174	392	W1

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

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

**1961 San Francisco 49ers staff**
	Front office Team Owner - Victor Morabito General manager – Louis Spadia Head coaches Head coach - Red Hickey Offensive coaches Chief of Offense / Offensive Coordinator - Bill Johnson Offensive Ends / Assistant Coach – Billy Wilson			Defensive coaches Defensive Assistant / Defensive Backs – Mark Duncan Defensive Backfield / Secondary – Jack Christiansen Special teams coaches None - N/A

Roster

**1961 San Francisco 49ers roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 12 John Brodie 11 Bob Waters 17 Billy Kilmer Running backs (RB) 23 Ray Norton HB 24 J. D. Smith FB 39 Hugh McElhenny HB 35 J.W. Lockett FB 32 C.R. Roberts FB 34 Bill Cooper FB Wide receivers (WR) 30 Bernie Casey 89 Aaron Thomas Tight ends (TE) 85 Monty Stickles 88 Clyde Conner		Offensive linemen (OL) 57 Bill Lopasky G 76 Len Rohde T 62 Mike Magac G 64 Ted Connolly RT 60 Roland Lakes LT 77 Bruce Bosley C 53 Frank Morze C 79 Bob St. Clair RT Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Leo Nomellini 86 Dan Colchico 74 Clark Miller 70 Charlie Krueger 74 Lou Cordileone DT 63 Monte Clark		Linebackers (LB) 83 Gordon Kelley 54 Bob Harrison MLB 55 Matt Hazeltine 66 Carl Kammerer MLB Defensive backs (DB) 37 Jimmy Johnson 25 Dave Baker SS 80 Jerry Mertens 29 Dale Messer DB 24 J.D. Smith 42 Jimmy Ridlon DB 44 Eddie Dove FS 27 R.C. Owens 40 Abe Woodson Special teams 36 Tommy Davis K/P		Rookies in italics