1952 San Francisco 49ers season

1952 San Francisco 49ers season
Head coach	Buck Shaw
Home field	Kezar Stadium
Results
Record	7–5–0
Division place	3rd National Football Conference
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1952 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's third season in the NFL, seventh season overall, and were coming off a 7–4–1 record in 1951.

The 49ers would start off the season strong, winning each of their first 5 games by at least 2 touchdowns, and had visions of playing in their first ever NFL Championship game. However, the 49ers season would hit a roadblock, as the team would lose 5 of their final 7 games to finish the year at 7–5–0, and in 3rd place in the NFC.

Y.A. Tittle would emerge as the starting quarterback job, as he would have a completion rate of 51.0% along with 11 TD's and 1,407 yards. Frankie Albert also had some action, completing 55.0% of his passes, along with 8 TD's and 964 yards.

Joe Perry would rush for a team high 725 yards and 8 TD's, while Hugh McElhenny wouldn't be too far behind with 684 yards on only 98 attempts (7.0 yards/carry), along with 6 rushing TD's, while he caught 26 passes for 367 yards and earned another 3 TD's. Gordie Soltau would lead the club with 55 receptions for 774 yards, and 7 TD's.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position College 1 9 Hugh McElhenny[1] Halfback Washington 2 22 Bob Toneff Tackle Notre Dame 3 27 Gene Shannon Halfback Houston 3 33 Billy Tidwell Halfback Texas A&M 4 46 Marion Campbell Tackle Georgia 5 57 Pat O'Donahue End Wisconsin 6 70 Jim Beasley Center Tulsa 7 81 Don Robison Halfback California 8 94 Jerry Smith Tackle Wisconsin 9 105 Glen Christian Halfback Idaho 10 118 Carl West Fullback Mississippi 11 129 J. D. Kimmel Tackle Houston/Army 12 142 Fred Snyder End Loyola 13 153 Rudy Yeager Tackle LSU 14 166 Frank Simons End Nebraska

Round Pick Player Position College 15 177 Haldo Norman End Gustavus Adolphus 16 190 Bob Meyers Halfback Stanford 17 201 Al Baldock End USC 18 214 Bill Carey End Michigan State 20 238 Jess Yates End LSU 21 249 Gene Offield End Hardin–Simmons 22 262 Jim Cozad Tackle Santa Clara 23 273 Bill Glazier End Arizona 24 286 Ralph Kreuger Tackle California 25 297 Henry (Bud) Laughlin Fullback Kansas 26 310 Dick Kane Guard Cincinnati 27 321 Waldo Schaaf Tackle Oklahoma A&M 28 334 Joe Palumbo Guard Virginia 29 345 Chuck Mosher End Colorado 30 358 Dick Patrick Center Oregon

Regular season

Schedule

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Attendance
1	September 28	Detroit Lions	3–17	San Francisco 49ers	1–0–0	52,750
2	October 4	San Francisco 49ers	37–14	Dallas Texans	2–0–0	12,566
3	October 12	San Francisco 49ers	28–0	Detroit Lions	3–0–0	42,842
4	October 19	San Francisco 49ers	40–16	Chicago Bears	4–0–0	46,338
5	October 26	Dallas Texans	21–48	San Francisco 49ers	5–0–0	26,887
6	November 2	Chicago Bears	20–17	San Francisco 49ers	5–1–0	58,255
7	November 9	San Francisco 49ers	14–23	New York Giants	5–2–0	54,230
8	November 16	San Francisco 49ers	23–17	Washington Redskins	6–2–0	30,863
9	November 23	San Francisco 49ers	9–35	Los Angeles Rams	6–3–0	64,450
10	November 30	Los Angeles Rams	34–21	San Francisco 49ers	6–4–0	49,420
11	December 7	Pittsburgh Steelers	24–7	San Francisco 49ers	6–5–0	13,886
12	December 14	Green Bay Packers	14–24	San Francisco 49ers	7–5–0	17,579

Standings

NFL National Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Detroit Lions	9	3	0	.750	7–3	344	192	W3
Los Angeles Rams	9	3	0	.750	8–2	349	234	W8
San Francisco 49ers	7	5	0	.583	6–3	285	221	W1
Green Bay Packers	6	6	0	.500	3–6	295	312	L3
Chicago Bears	5	7	0	.417	4–6	245	326	W1
Dallas Texans	1	11	0	.083	1–9	182	427	L2

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

Pro Bowl

San Francisco's players selected for the Pro Bowl:

Player	Position
Hardy Brown	Linebacker
Ed Henke	Defensive Line
Bill Johnson	Offensive Line
Hugh McElhenny	Running Back
Leo Nomellini	Defensive Line
Joe Perry	Running Back
Gordie Soltau	Wide Receiver

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 398

• SHRP Sports
• Pro Football Reference