RIP John Brodie

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

Former Niners QB John Brodie, 1970 NFL MVP, dies at age 90

Best QB in 49ers’ history before some guy named Montana came along.

He was a pretty good color man on NBC for a while too.

 

[HanSenSE]

Former Niners QB John Brodie, 1970 NFL MVP, dies at age 90

Best QB in 49ers’ history before some guy named Montana came along.

He was a pretty good color man on NBC for a while too.

Played at Stanford and was also sports anchor at KRON, then SF's NBC station, for.a while.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Played on the Senior Tour as well, I believe.

 

[maumann2]

Man, the 1972 playoff loss to the Cowboys was a punch to the gut for San Francisco fans long before The Catch. RIP.

Was good friends with his nephew at Fresno State. Matt Brodie was also a decent quarterback, at least in flag football.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Former father-in-law of Chris Chandler, too, I believe. Those had to be some interesting conversations at the dinner table. RIP.

 

[HanSenSE]

Man, the 1972 playoff loss to the Cowboys was a punch to the gut for San Francisco fans long before The Catch. RIP.

Was good friends with his nephew at Fresno State. Matt Brodie was also a decent quarterback, at least in flag football.

There was a three-year stretch in the early 70s where the Cowboys ended the 49ers season every time.

 

[ChrisLong]

Played on the Senior Tour as well, I believe.

I interviewed him at the Johnny Mathis Senior Classic at MountainGate Country Club in West L.A. in 1985. The most memorable thing was I hardly asked any questions. He'd heard all the questions, he had his answers ready. He was methodical, without coming off as bored. It was OK, nothing special.

He wasn't a winner on that tour. This course was too easy for them. The geezers were driving the par-4s.

That course was built on landfill in the Sepulveda Pass. I remember seeing trash trucks driving up the hill to offload garbage. There were large exhaust systems to remove methane gas ... the place smelled horrible.

 

[Slacker]

The glory days of the Niners-Rams rivalry.
I liked Roman Gabriel as I kid, but I liked Brodie, too.

Now, decades later, I can still see Brodie leading that team.

 

[HanSenSE]

Unbelievable he's not in Canton.

 

[Liut]

Unbelievable he's not in Canton.

Remember reading years ago somewhere the Houston Oilers offered him a huge (for the time) contract to jump.
Brodie was a damn good television analyst. He knew his stuff, and added personality.
Plus-one your sentence.
Knew he'd suffered a stroke years ago. Figured he had already died.
RIP
Thank you Corky for sharing.

 

[DanOregon]

I grew up a Raider fan, but respected Brodie. Read his book. Strange to learn he was into Scientology at one point in his life.
Deadspin | Whither The Scientologist Athlete?

 

[HanSenSE]

Something I didn't know until now. The 49ers retired Brodie's No. 12, but when he played for them, Trent Dilfer got his permission to wear No. 12 to help call attention to him not being in Canton.

 

[qtlaw]

Damn, I grew up playing Brodie to Gene Washington in my backyard. Brodie brought some shine to 49er land in the early 70s. May he RIP. Thanks for the memories Mr. Brodie.

 

[qtlaw]

Man, the 1972 playoff loss to the Cowboys was a punch to the gut for San Francisco fans long before The Catch. RIP.

Was good friends with his nephew at Fresno State. Matt Brodie was also a decent quarterback, at least in flag football.

**** Witcher fumbled the onside kick right? So painful. I hated the Cowboys then, which was why The Catch was sooooo cathartic.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I interviewed Brodie in Clearwater. It was a news conference but I was the only sports reporter. It was at the Fort Harrison Hotel, home of the Church of Scientology. It was amusing to see all the reporters, including me, say no thanks to coffee at an hour we all needed it. Brodie basically gave a testimonial to Scientology. When asked if it bothered him the church monitored him he said: “They have a file on me this thick. I don’t care.” I wrote my story and as I left I saw the printers put the story on the page. Next morning there was a plug story where mine was supposed to be. Turns out after I left the editor saw the story. He had a son who was part of a cult so he killed the story.

 

[waterytart]

Why did everyone decline coffee? I know of the controversies about eating food provided in the pressbox. Is this an extension of that?

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Why did everyone decline coffee? I know of the controversies about eating food provided in the pressbox. Is this an extension of that?

This was at the Scientologist headquarters

 

[cyclingwriter2]

For those who have real memories of his playing time, why didn’t the niners draft Spurrier in 67?

A. They felt at age 32, Brodie was about done so bring in his successor who would take over in a year or two?

B. Him almost bolting to the oilers and there being concern over his future that way?

C. Both of those?

D. Something else?

 

[LanceyHoward]

For those who have real memories of his playing time, why didn’t the niners draft Spurrier in 67?

A. They felt at age 32, Brodie was about done so bring in his successor who would take over in a year or two?

B. Him almost bolting to the oilers and there being concern over his future that way?

C. Both of those?

D. Something else?

Brodie did sign with the Oilers. Al Davis took over as the AFL commissioner and the AFL started signing NFL stars (previously there had been an unspoken agreement that each league would not sign veterans from the other league, Draft picks were fair game,) This lead the NFL to want to merge,

As part of the merger agreement Brodie had to stay with the 49'ers. But he sued and got his Oilers contract paid also,

By 67 Brodie was safely back with the 49'ers. Drafting Spurrier did not make sense to me, even as a nine year old.

And when the merger occurred Pete Rozelle got the commissioner's job, which people have speculated is one reason Davis why despised Rozelle.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Played on the Senior Tour as well, I believe.

Brodie was the number one color guy at NBC with Curt Gowdy. the number two team was **** Enberg and Merlin Olsen. When Gowdy got fired at NBC the Enberg-Olsen team was promoted and Brodie got demoted to the number two team, When Brodie turned 50 I believe he just went ahead and decided to play golf and give up his broadcasting career.