The San Francisco 49ers, AKA the Niners, joined the NFL in 1950 but actually began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. Contrary to popular belief, the teams was not named after the 49 square miles San Francisco encompasses, but rather after all the gold prospectors who arrived in Northern California around 1849 during the California Gold Rush, who where commonly referred to as 49ers.








