Fred Dean

Template:NFLretired Frederick Rudolph "Fred" Dean (born February 24, 1952) is an American football player in the National Football League. His career started with the San Diego Chargers in 1975 and ended with the San Francisco 49ers after the 1985 season. Dean was born in Arcadia, the seat of Bienville Parish in north Louisiana. His family moved twenty miles west to Ruston, where he graduated from Ruston High School.

College career

Dean was a standout at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, having spurned an opportunity to play for coach Eddie Robinson at nearby Grambling State University, which at the time was sending African American players to the NFL on a yearly basis. Dean excelled as an All-Southland Conference defensive tackle during his collegiate football career at Louisiana Tech.

NFL career

In 1981, he was acquired in a mid--season trade and eventually helped the San Francisco 49ers win two Super Bowls in the 1980s. His first game as a 49er was a key match-up against the Dallas Cowboys. Dean played after only a couple of practices and was still able to apply pressure and repeatedly hurried Danny White when he was not recording one of his 3 sacks, in a game won by the 49ers, 45-14. His first action of the season as a 49er was noted by author Tom Danyluk as "the greatest set of downs I have ever seen unleashed by a pass rusher".^[1] In what had been a game of possum, Bill Walsh, the 49er head coach, said to John Madden, who covered the game, "Fred (Dean) just got here . . . If he plays, he won't play much".^[2]

His next home game for the 49ers was against the Los Angeles Rams. The game was won by the 49ers and the first win against the Rams in Candlestick Park, 20-17, as Dean sacked Pat Haden 5 times. He ended the season with 13 sacks, 12 with the 49ers and 1 with the Chargers, prior to his trade.

The 49ers would go on to win the Super Bowl that year, and Steve Sabol (NFL Films) is quoted in 2006 as saying that Dean's acquisition was the last meaningful in-season trade, in that it affected the destination of the Lombardi Trophy. San Diego's defense collapsed when Dean departed, giving up 40 points in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the regular season, and 65 total points in playoff games vs. the Miami Dolphins and Bengals. The Charger defense would not return to the top half of the NFL rankings again until the unit was rebuilt in the late 1980s, and the club did not have an effective pass rusher until Leslie O'Neal was drafted in 1986.

In 1983 Dean recorded 17 sacks to lead the NFC and recorded a then-NFL record of 6 in one game, setting that mark during the 49ers’ 27-0 shutout of the New Orleans Saints on November 13, 1983. The 17 sacks was a Dean career high, bettering his 1978 total of 15-1/2 with the Chargers.^[3]He followed that 1978 season by adding nine sacks in 1979 and 10.5 in 1980. He had recorded 7 sacks as a rookie in 1975. Dean's career sack total, with his unofficial numbers included, is 93.5.^[4]

Dean was also a key player on the 49ers 1984 Super Bowl team, mostly used as a situational pass rusher. During the 1984 season, Dean was reunited with his Charger teammate, Gary "Big Hands" Johnson.

Dean is a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. On August 2, 2008, Dean was elected to the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame.

References

[1] ttp://books.google.com/books?id=Gc5XDDEgrRUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=fred+dean+danny+white&sig=YzdsxMpADdDvrj3FboME5ReRqNg#PPA205,M1

[2] ttp://books.google.com/books?id=5fkygqMiHpcC&dq=fred+dean+danny+white&q=fred+dean&pgis=1

[3] Member - Pro Football Hall of Fame

[4] 49ers.pressdemocrat.com

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v t e San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XVI champions
3 Jim Miller 7 Guy Benjamin 14 Ray Wersching 16 Joe Montana (MVP) 20 Amos Lawrence 21 Eric Wright 22 Dwight Hicks 24 Rick Gervais 27 Carlton Williamson 28 Lynn Thomas 29 Saladin Martin 30 Bill Ring 31 Walt Easley 32 Ricky Patton 33 Ricky Churchman 35 Lenvil Elliott 36 Paul Hofer 38 Johnny Davis 40 Arrington Jones 42 Ronnie Lott 49 Earl Cooper 50 Terry Tautolo 50 Jim Looney 51 Randy Cross 52 Bobby Leopold 53 Milt McColl 54 Craig Puki 56 Fred Quillan 57 Dan Bunz 58 Keena Turner 59 Willie Harper 60 John Choma 61 Dan Audick 62 Walt Downing 64 Jack Reynolds 65 Lawrence Pillers 66 Allan Kennedy 68 John Ayers 71 Keith Fahnhorst 74 Fred Dean 75 John Harty 76 Dwaine Board 77 Pete Kugler 78 Archie Reese 79 Jim Stuckey 80 Eason Ramson 82 Brian Peets 84 Mike Shumann 85 Mike Wilson 86 Charle Young 87 Dwight Clark 88 Freddie Solomon
Head coach Bill Walsh
Coaches Cas Banaszek Norb Hecker Milt Jackson Billie Matthews Bobb McKittrick Bill McPherson Ray Rhodes George Seifert Chuck Studley Sam Wyche

v t e San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XIX champions
4 Max Runager 6 Matt Cavanaugh 14 Ray Wersching 16 Joe Montana (MVP) 19 Tom Orosz 21 Eric Wright 22 Dwight Hicks 24 Derrick Harmon 26 Wendell Tyler 27 Carlton Williamson 28 Tom Holmoe 29 Mario Clark 30 Bill Ring 32 Carl Monroe 33 Roger Craig 42 Ronnie Lott 43 Dana McLemore 49 Jeff Fuller 50 Riki Ellison 51 Randy Cross 52 Blanchard Montgomery 53 Milt McColl 54 Ron Ferrari 55 Jim Fahnhorst 56 Fred Quillan 57 Dan Bunz 58 Keena Turner 61 Jesse Sapolu 62 Guy McIntyre 64 Jack Reynolds 65 Lawrence Pillers 66 Allan Kennedy 67 Billy Shields 67 John Macaulay 68 John Ayers 71 Keith Fahnhorst 72 Jeff Stover 74 Fred Dean 76 Dwaine Board 77 Bubba Paris 78 Manu Tuiasosopo 79 Jim Stuckey 81 Russ Francis 83 Renaldo Nehemiah 84 Al Dixon 85 Mike Wilson 86 John Frank 87 Dwight Clark 88 Freddie Solomon 89 Earl Cooper 90 Todd Shell 94 Louie Kelcher 95 Michael Carter 97 Gary Johnson 98 Greg Boyd 99 Mike Walter
Head coach Bill Walsh
Coaches Paul Hackett Tommy Hart Norb Hecker Sherman Lewis Bobb McKittrick Bill McPherson George Seifert Ray Rhodes Fred von Appen