I am a lifelong 49ers fan and will bleed red and gold until I die. I grew up in the glory days of the franchise and may have been a bandwagoner, but most fans start off this way.
My first memory was forgoing playing with my toys to watch the Niners on Christmas. I was hooked. Now, I was little, so this may indeed be a clouded memory, but to me, this team is mine. I try not to say "we," and I try and stay subjective, but biases creep through and I talk as if I am the GM sometimes.
But this is not an article about where I came from. This is about my compounding, ever-growing hatred for the "Boys in Blue."
The Cowboys and 49ers were rivals long before I was born in December of 1987. In fact, the rivalry seems almost destined.
Red versus blue, Cowboys versus Goldminers, the two frontier builders. The Democratic hippies of San Francisco versus Dallas's Republican conservatives. And the two biggest teams of the 1990s in football.
My hatred began as soon as my love fest with the 49ers did.
While I was growing up, I did not know the history of the team, the stars of the past, and the storied failures of the franchise. I couldn't tell you we ran a West Coast offense and I did not even know we had a running game to complement the accomplishments of the big-name quarterbacks and a certain No. 80.
But I knew we did not like the Cowboys.
For about two years I could not stand the Falcons and that damn Dirty Bird, but when the divisions changed, so did my stance on the Falcons. So, young and clueless, I took my blind faith like a religion. I began repeating what others said in front of the pulpit of my television.
My first realization that I despised the Cowboys was when I met my best friend in sixth grade. He was born in Dallas and loved his Cowboys. We were at odds immediately, but we hung out like best friends do.
But football season came around—and the talks started.
It was in meeting him that the hatred went from root to stem. It was not a hatred but a growing my-team-is-better-than-yours pissing contest.
This extreme dislike festered for a few years until high school, where I took my fandom from a childhood love to an obsession. I devoured stats, names, facts, and forecasts for the 49ers. I knew my teams front and back.
The greatest game to memory was watching Terrell Owens redemptive performance versus the Packers in the playoffs in 1998. We all know the story: Owens repeatedly drops passes and has basically the worst game a player can have.
But with time winding down, Steve Young throws a ball so hard through the middle, all Owens can do is catch it or get knocked over by it. Watch here for those memories. Game over. 49ers win, Owens cries. I am dancing and feel like I am on the field with the team.
But that was the last memory I have that came with those reactions.The Garcia days were good but quickly turned sour. The comeback versus the Giants is a classic, but even I realized we got lucky with that pass interference call.
This all comes back to the Cowboys because while the Niner ship was sinking, the Cowboys enjoyed a resurgence.
The 49ers and Cowboys were both going downhill, but that Jerry Jones turned his team around. He went out and made good draft choices and got good players.
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about 1 month ago
I for one love this rivalry.
Though some people try to force Washington down my throat as Dallas' chief rival, I hold SF as my favorite rivalry. I'm 23 and grew up in Dallas in the '90s on some amazing games-- games that mattered to the NFL-- between Dallas and San Francisco (Green Bay came in second). I hope SF and Dallas both improve and someday get back to that special 1990s football.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks a lot I really began to not like the Packers but the Cowboys still reside as the greatest rival in my mind
about 1 month ago
In the '90s this was one of the best rivalries, both teams meeting in the NFC championship on several occasions. Rivalries always have a peak, then soon after die down. That's the pattern, soon the rivalry will become as fierce as it used to be.
Great Article, even though you're a 49er fan.
from about 1 month ago
Great comment even though you are a Cowboy fan
about 1 month ago
Great article... I love reading "hate" articles that are light-hearted and honest... not some G-string (Giants) fan saying how he knows TO is gay deep down and how You can't spell Romo without homo (which, by the way, makes no sense), etc. I remember seeing Charles Haley stare down at Steve Young after a sack and taunt him in 1994 and thinking, "Damn, if I were a 9er fan, I'd literally be foaming". It's actually sad to see how much the rivalry has died down, though. For teams I hate, (see: G-strings, E-Girls, 4skins, and Patriots*) I completely root against them, their enemy is my new favorite team at that point in time... i'm not the same about the 49ers any more. Their battles were classic, dirty, and entertaining in the mid 90's... not so much any more. Hopefully the rvalry will take a turn back to those days, because boy, is it fun to hate you guys :)
about 1 month ago
I miss those days when Eddie Debartolo was running the shows. Instead of selling the team Debartolo gave the franchise to family who have no clue how to run a team.
I also miss the rivalry between the Packers and the 49ers. It seemed like we played them every year and now I can't even tell you the last time the 49ers played the Packers.
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