When Steve Young trotted out to 49ers practice for the first time, he did so in a pair of NFL hand-me-downs. Equipment man Bronco Hinek greeted the freshly arrived quarterback with a pair of used cleats.
Young was wearing them when he met Joe Montana for the first time.
"Nice shoes," Montana told him.
It wasn't until later, as he removed those worn-out Mizunos, that Young noticed the hallowed number embossed on the heels: No. 16.
He was standing in Joe Montana's shoes.
Young laughed then, as he does now, at the obvious symbolism. It was a fitting welcome to San Francisco, where for generations each great quarterback followed in the footsteps of his predecessor.
Frankie Albert begot Y.A. Tittle, who begot John Brodie, an evolution that reached its peak during the glittering Montana and Young years and held strong through the unlikely rise of Jeff Garcia.
Those passers combined for 24 Pro Bowl appearances, five Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player awards, five Super Bowl trophies (four game MVP trophies) and three Hall-of-Fame induction speeches.
But in recent years, that 49ers' storied Pro Bowl parade has lost its footing, giving way to a meandering procession of Rattays and Dorseys and Dilfers and Picketts.
And Smiths.
The 49ers drafted Alex Smith with the No. 1 pick in 2005 and, unlike his famous forebears, his only contribution to the NFL record book has been the unofficial mark for second chances.
Smith opens his seventh season Sunday when the 49ers face the Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick Park. The 49ers' old quarterback tradition has been replaced by a new annual ritual: Wondering if this is the year Smith puts it all together.
In the beginning
The first score in 49ers history came on an exquisitely executed passing play. Albert, a scrambling left-hander, tossed a 6-yard pass to halfback John Strzykalski, who tossed a lateral to Len Eshmont, who raced down the sideline toward the end zone for a play that covered 66 yards under the foggy afternoon skies of Kezar Stadium on Sept. 8, 1946.
Just like that, a 49ers quarterback legacy was born.
Albert gave birth to a 49ers tradition: ceding his job to the next great passer in line. Tittle made four Pro Bowls before being overtaken by Brodie, who retired in 1973 trailing only Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton on the all-time passing yardage list.
But those interviewed for this story say the 49ers' true quarterback legacy — the one that defined the franchise — arrived with Walsh in 1979.
"The whole, wonderful run stems from Bill Walsh's total connection to the quarterback position and to the offense," recalled Carmen Policy, a 49ers executive from 1983-1997. "That is where he focused and put so much of his effort and creativity."
With the 49ers stuck in the offensive doldrums since Brodie's retirement, the silver-haired wizard from Stanford popularized a scheme in which short, high-percentage passes would serve as an extension to the running game.
Quarterbacks could go deep, but it could be just as successful to swing an easy pass to a player out of the backfield. Under Walsh, running back Roger Craig once led the NFL in receptions (92 for 1,016 yards in 1985).
Montana said he is excited that new 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh is running the same system.
"I'm sure there are new twists, but the essence of it is there," the eight-time Pro Bowl selection said. "It's: 'We're going to give you somebody down the field, but you don't have to force it if he's not open. We're going to give you two other options at least.'
"Once the quarterbacks figure out that system, what their role really is, big plays happen. You don't have to try to make them happen. You just have to keep moving the ball and keep the completions coming."
The completions kept coming — even long after Walsh's retirement. From 1980-2003, the 49ers never went more than two consecutive seasons without sending a quarterback to the Pro Bowl.
Young (96.8) and Montana (92.3) own the two highest passer ratings among quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame. From 1987-92, they were, improbably, on the same depth chart. During that time, anything less than a Super Bowl was deemed a failure.
"A guy from 'NFL Films' called one year after we'd only made it to the NFC Championship game and he wanted to know when we could get the highlight film done," Policy recalled. "I said, 'Is there a way to scratch that? We haven't done anything this year worth a highlight."
Reversal of fortune
So where did it go wrong? When did the 49ers' quarterback parade take a detour down a blind alley?
The franchise withstood the first crushing blow. On Sept. 27, 1999, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams eluded a feeble block attempt from running back Lawrence Phillips and buried Young with a blindside hit.
Young, one year removed from a franchise-record 36 touchdown passes, never played again. He retired after the season citing post-concussion syndrome. "It was a shame," recalled former coach Steve Mariucci. "I think Steve had a good three years of excellence left in him."
A franchise that had transitioned from one Hall of Famer to the next — an NFL first — was suddenly without an obvious option. The 49ers found an unlikely savior in Garcia, an undersized ball-of-fire who went undrafted out of San Jose State. Garcia spent five seasons plying his trade for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League before being lured back by Walsh — who had returned to the 49ers' front office — in 1999.
Walsh, a longtime fan of Garcia's, had recognized the passer's ability to make something out of nothing. "He's the guy who believed in me before anybody else did," Garcia once said.
A franchise accustomed to sterling quarterback play hardly missed a beat. After a shaky start, Garcia went on to post 14 300-yard games — only Montana (35) and Young (28) had more in a 49ers uniform. Garcia's 4,278 passing yards in 2000 remain a San Francisco record.
"It wasn't that obvious. We didn't just say, 'OK, now Jeff will jump in and be a Pro Bowl quarterback,' " Mariucci recalled. "With Jeff, it was watching him going through the ups and downs of a season. It was seeing what he was made of, seeing his resiliency."
The search continues
After all the luck the 49ers had with a third-round pick (Montana), a Tampa Bay Buccaneers castoff (Young) and a CFL sprite (Garcia), they've since struggled for years trying to identify their next great passer in the draft.
In 1997, they used a first-round choice on a quarterback for the first time in 30 years. Contrary to the advice of Walsh, who recommended Jake Plummer, the 49ers wound up with Jim Druckenmiller, a 6-foot-4, 241-pound Virginia Tech prospect with a huge arm — and zero feel for the 49ers' offense. His NFL career consisted of 52 pass attempts.
"He was a good guy and a good quarterback, but he wasn't going to be a good quarterback in the West Coast system," Mariucci said. "We saw that right away and we didn't waste a lot of time."
Charred by the first-round experience, the 49ers began searching for a later-round steal — Gio Carmazzi (third), Tim Rattay (seventh), Brandon Doman (fifth), Ken Dorsey (seventh), Cody Pickett (seventh) — all without long-term success.
Then, in the weeks leading up to the '05 draft, 49ers executive Scot McCloughan put in a call to old mentor Mike Holmgren, who was the Seattle Seahawks' coach at the time. Holmgren had been a 49ers offensive assistant from 1986-91 and an expert on quarterback play.
McCloughan told him that the 49ers were leaning toward Smith over Cal prospect Aaron Rodgers with the No. 1 pick. What did he think?
"I told Scot, 'There will be a learning curve for him. You know it. I know it. But the owner has to know it. The media has to know it. Everybody has to know it," Holmgren recalled in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Instead, the 49ers rushed Smith into the starting job by Week 5, when he threw four interceptions, took five sacks and posted an 8.5 passer rating. The 49ers went on to finish last in the NFL in passing yards for the only time in franchise history.
Just like that, the 49ers' quarterback legacy was dead.
"He was destined to fail," Holmgren told the Times.
Young, like several others interviewed for this story, said it remains impossible to properly evaluate Smith because of the quarterback's tumultuous circumstances.
And, like others, Young said the hiring of Harbaugh gives the long-suffering No. 1 pick one last chance to get it right: Smith gets an offensive-minded head coach relaunching the same West Coast system that helped his dazzling predecessors become stars.
Having endured his own tumultuous circumstances with the Buccaneers, Young said the key to continuing the 49ers' quarterback legacy is embracing the challenge.
When handed the shoes, step right in.
"I had a unique ability to look at the pressure because I had just come from Tampa Bay, so I knew how badly things were run there as a team and as an organization," Young said.
"So, yes, there was the pressure in San Francisco — the expectations, the standards — and I would think: 'Thank heavens. This is great.'"