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John Brodie passes away at 90 - Griffins78 - 01-23-2026

https://apple.news/AyEdARxgJQRSXsSV_VCsUTA

https://apnews.com/article/john-brodie-dies-49ers-081fd6caab3849e08fb09e8512aeea49

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/49ers/article/49ers-qb-john-brodie-2nd-leading-passer-team-17787232.php

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - TonyLima - 01-23-2026

Just saw that.  The first of many 49ers passing QBs.  RIP.

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - BobK - 01-23-2026

I remember this well. Who caught Brodie’s first 49er TD pass
Stanford and 49ers. An all time great

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - PalmTree - 01-23-2026

(01-23-2026, 07:02 PM)BobK Wrote:  I remember this well. Who caught Brodie’s first 49er TD pass
Stanford and 49ers.  An all time great

Was it Washington? 

Also, hard to believe we were discussing Brodie's career in the Trivia thread not 2 weeks ago. May he RIP.

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - BobK - 01-23-2026

Brodie’s first year was 1957. TD to Hugh McElhenny

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - Griffins78 - 01-23-2026

Here’s a video of his 49er highlights:

https://youtu.be/EyZ7ZuLuNSI?si=WTl9sezhqvxkYV_r

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - Genuine Realist - 01-24-2026

Almost my earliest memories of Stanford football is John Brodie in 1955. I was nine and he was a hero. My dad and brother and me always sat in the end zone on the closed end. Tickets were $5.00, maybe $2.00. The ambiance was more like a high school game than the current spectacle. I miss that old stadium, the eucalyptus, even the very bland band arrangements. (Later, during the Plunkett years, the pre game show was really good, with Come Join The Band modifying into a solid arrangement of Surf City. The 50's stuff was fun, but dull. Even a little kid could see that.) 

Back then, the NCAA insisted on one-platoon football, so Brodie had to play safety on defense as well. He specialized in a jump pass that looked spectacular, at least to a nine-year old. Paul Wiggin also played on those teams. Two All-Americans. 

Stanford had a fine year in 1955, 6-3-1, including a 6-0 win over Ohio State and a Voldemort winner, Hopalong Cassady, who did absolutely nothing. This is the first game I can remember seeing. The 1956 team was a major disappointment, finishing under .500 - dramatic underachievement. which should have warned me about what was coming. 

Brodie was a superb natural athlete, golfer (as everyone knows), but good at just about everything. A few years later, he was a habitue of the Los Altos Golf and Country Club, not nearly as raw-taw then as it is now. where my dad was a member. He made some money gambling, which undercut his popularity. My understanding is that, in addition to the athletic gift, he was a very good card player, gin rummy being his game of choice. 

All this seems a long time ago, because it was.

RE: John Brodie passes away at 90 - Embo - 01-24-2026

I was lucky enough to see John Brodie in action, once, on December 26, 1971.  It was the divisional playoff game vs. the Washington Redskins in Candlestick on that old artificial turf.  (As an aside, it was the day after the Dolphins and Chiefs met on Christmas day and played the longest game ever in NFL history.  The league great criticism for this and vowed never to play on Christmas day again.  Until the TV $$ spoke louder)

That was my first NFL game ever.  I was 14 and my dad had a coworker who was a Niner STH.  He couldn't go, and asked if my dad wanted them.  AYKM?  My brother and I went and couldn't have had more fun.  The big play of the game was in the third quarter, when Brodie noted Gene Washington had single coverage and hit him with a 78 yard TD pass on a fly pattern.  Later in the quarter, the crowd was roaring with the Niners on offense.  Brodie waved his arms over his head and the crowd immediately went silent.  That was incredible to witness.

A long time ago.  May memories of John Brodie never die.