Logo of the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers, used from their first season of existence, in the old All America Football Conference in 1946, until 1967. The team name was derived from the name given to the prospectors of the great Gold Rush of 1849. The franchise has won 5 Super Bowls, but didn’t win any titles during the years this logo was used. When they joined the AAFC in ’46, they became the first professional sports franchise based in San Francisco, and joined the NFL when the leagues merged in 1950. The Niners of the 1950s were an exciting offensive unit, and they fielded what became known as the “Million Dollar Backfield” with 4 Hall of Famers – QB Y.A. Tittle and running backs John Henry Johnson, Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny. Later, they boasted the “All Alphabet” backfield, with “Y.A.” still at QB, and J.D. Smith, C.R. Roberts and R.C. Owens joining him as backfield mates. Tittle and Owens made NFL history by hooking up on the “Alley Oop” pass many times, a play that’s pretty much an ancestor of today’s end zone “fade” pattern where the quarterback throws up a high pass hoping his receiver outjumps the defender and catches it.