Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest 49ers Stories Ever Told

by Roger Craig, Matt Maiocco, Bill Walsh (Foreword)

The San Francisco 49ers shaped the NFL throughout the 1980s with their unique blend of precision, panache, and preparation. Three decades later, NFL teams are still copying the system and the methods that made the 49ers unlike any other organization in professional sports. Now fans of this dynamic franchise will relive all the action and thrills of 49ers football through the eyes of one of the greatest San Francisco legends of all time: Roger Craig.

Star of three of the 49ers Super Bowl wins, Roger Craig was one of the most productive players in franchise history. The first player in NFL history to top 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season, he used his kneechurning, eyes-wide-open style to earn four trips to the Pro Bowl and score a Super Bowl–record three touchdowns in one game. In this newly revised edition of Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline, Roger Craig uses his trademark vision to capture some of the moments that defined the organization during its glory years, and up to its recent return to greatness. Included are stories about all of the men who shaped the direction of the franchise, including such luminaries such as Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, George Seifert, and more. Fans will relive all the great moments and read some never-before-told stories from a man who kept his eyes open to everything during his fascinating career.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Football

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Tara Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn’t so much “Tales From the San Francisco 49ers Sideline” as it is “Tales From Roger Craig’s Career”. Despite the misleading title, the book contains a lot of interesting information about Craig’s career and the Niners that he played with during that time. I would have given this book a better rating if it was better written. Craig co-wrote the book with two “award-winning” sportswriters, so I expected better. The book’s format is choppy and doesn’t flow. Also, there are a lot of grammatical errors and repetition of not only information, but also practically complete sentences. It was an interesting book to read, but it could have been a lot better.

[Brittany Speirs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t tales from the sideline, it was one player giving his opinion, in small blurbs, on other players, coaching staff, ect . . .

The book also wasn’t edited very well. There were at least two portions where the exact same sentences were used to describe something. I mean word for word.

[Vince Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did you like best about Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline? What did you like least?
I enjoyed learning new things about the 49ers relating to on and off field events, player personalities, coaching strategies, etc. What I liked least was I thought to book was going to be more of those things, but it was really Roger Craig's autobiography with some stories thrown in.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
The most interesting aspect was learning things I did not know about Roger Craig. He was a member of a franchise which had so many great stars that he gets lost in the fold sometimes, so it was interesting to be reminded of his importance to the team.
Do you think Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Yes. I would love for Roger Craig to write a follow up in a few years to discuss events within the organization which have occurred since 2012 with the falling out between Harbaugh and Baalke, hiring/firing both Tomsula and Chip Kelly, as well as the downfall of Kaepernick.

[Mike Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reminder of the 1980s glory years, but structured where there are just a few paragraphs on a couple dozen players and a few paragraphs on each super bowl. So. It’s “okay” and gets 2 stars, one more to say thanks for the memories.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, it's not that great. All the stories are tiny vignettes, none longer than a single page, which means it's all superficial at best, and too many of them are laundry lists of players past and present with no real insight about who they are, or anything you could read elsewhere. But since the 49ers are my first sports love, and that era formational for me, I still liked.

The most interesting parts were where Craig notes that he doesn't have a good relationship with Eddie D - that surprised me, I assumed all players loved him, but he blames Eddie for being too emotional in making decisions that hurt the team: taking away President / GM responsibilities from Bill Walsh which eventually drove him away, releasing Craig and Ronnie Lott after a bad playoff loss, and generally alienating players. That definitely changed my perspective on Eddie. It was also interesting that he compares Harbaugh favorably to Bill Walsh - that's extremely high praise.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most other reviewers have mentioned, this is a Roger Craig autobiography, not a book about the 49ers per se. The format of very small chapters, each no longer than a newspaper column, is a little unusual, but they do go in chronological order so it's not difficult to follow. You will learn a bit about the great 49ers teams of the 80s, albeit through the lens of Craig's biased experiences. Craig doesn't lack self confidence, but is very complimentary of former teammates and coaches, especially Bill Walsh, Ronnie Lott, and Tom Rathman. But Craig does come across as a bit jealous of Jerry Rice, going out of his way to point out that he, not Rice, was the first to start running the infamous hill at Edgewood Park. Overall, a pretty good book that taught me a great deal about a player that I admittedly didn't know very much about.

[Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others commented, more of a Roger Craig autobiography. Interesting stories, but the stories are very short. The writing is poor and needed some editing. If you are a 1980s 49ers fan, it is worth reading.

[Michael Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great stories, but couldn't get past how stuck on himself Roger Craig was.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the greatest stories ever told about Roger Craig any Roger Craig.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tales from the San Franciso 49ers Sideline is former 49ers star running back Roger Craig's entry into the legion of books about 49ers history. And within this book, he wrote about some well-known names and eras as well as some not so well-known names and eras of 49ers history.

With this book, Craig could have just written about his own career with the 49ers which spanned from 1983 to 1990 and been done with it. But to those who don't know, he did that in his autobiography Strictly Business which came out in 1992 and a book that I finished reading back on January 12, 2022. So, with this book he knew what time it was with the tales from the sideline's series, which is to write about your career with a particular team as a beat reporter or player, as well as to be willing to write some backstories on eras that had nothing to do with your playing days or the period in which you wrote for or played for a particular team.

One of the most touching (as well as very true) parts of this book was on page 24 which was at the beginning of Chapter 2. On that page Craig said this: "Coach [Bill] Walsh was the 49ers. In many ways, Coach Walsh still is the 49ers. Everything the organization accomplished in the 1980s can be traced back to him. He had the vision and the strength to put his plan into place." You have to have quotes like that when you make books like this, you just have to.

One of the things I appreciated about this book, and he did the same thing in Strictly Business, and it was that he is still angry or hurt (Chapter 5, End of An Era) over the way former 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo, Head Coach George Seifert, and Vice President Carmen Policy handled him after his fumble in the 1990 AFC Championship game vs. the New York Giants. That fumble enabled the Giants to beat the Niners and get to Super Bowl XXV, which not only ended the Niners' dynasty, but it also stopped them from three-peating (they won Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV after the 1988 and 1989 season respectively).

Meanwhile, I bet the late Bobb McKittrick (the great 49ers offensive line coach) would have appreciated chapter 3, because for four pages (80-83) Craig wrote some kind words about one of the best offensive line coaches who ever lived.

Then there was page 121, probably the most poignant or cry-worthy (for Craig that is) part of the book. He writes: "When he (Bill Walsh) retired, a part of me died. I wasn't the same running back after he stepped down as coach." There's some truth to that. Yes, Craig had a 1,000-yard rushing season in 1989 (the year after Walsh retired) and he went to the Pro Bowl that year, but it was around that time or the 1989-1990 period that Craig was starting to see himself being de-emphasized in the 49ers' offense. In the last two years of his career with the Niners, he started having problems with his position coach and offensive coordinator when it came to his carries, catches, and starts. Then he was released by the Niners in early 1991 and later that year he signed with the Los Angeles Raiders.

Like I said before, Craig didn't just talk about himself in this book he had chapters and/or particular paragraphs in the book dedicated to his 49er brethren such as Terrell Owens, Jeff Garcia, Frank Gore, Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, some background on the well-known Len Eshmont Award (to 49ers players, fans, and team administration that is), and others. In fact, he dedicated a whole chapter that numbered 56 pages (3, The 49er Family) to some of the players, some of the coaches, and a few members of the teams' administration who worked for team during their glory years (1981-1989).

In closing, Tales from the 49ers Sideline was a short and concise history book on one of the most storied franchises in NFL history. This book is a not a definitive history of the 49ers and it wasn't trying to be, as most of the book was about the 1980s and 1990s 49ers through the lens of Craig. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the 49ers football history through short paragraphs and passages, with that form of storytelling being through the lens of someone who played for the franchise.