The Big Lead

The Last Time the 49ers Were in the Super Bowl in Miami, Their GM Motivated Himself With the Threat of Seppuku

By Stephen Douglas

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young hugs the Lombardi trophy
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young hugs the Lombardi trophy / ROBERTO SCHMIDT/Getty Images
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The 49ers return to the Super Bowl on Sunday for the second time since January 29, 1995, when they competed in Super Bowl XXIX. The location is the same as that fateful day, but the name has changed. This weekend they will play at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. 25 years ago it was Joe Robbie Stadium.

To put this in proper perspective, I took a look at the Super Bowl XXIX pregame show, which someone uploaded on YouTube. It is straight 90's fire from the start. If you don't want to watch the full 2-hour clip straight through, I have highlighted a few things below.

6:58 - An ad for the network television premier of Under Siege.

12:46 - Hank Williams Jr. picks out a shirt.

21:33 - A live look inside the locker room shared by the 49ers and Chargers cheerleaders. Right after that Musburger cuts to the cast of Me and the Boys, Steve Harvey's short-lived ABC sitcom. Despite the pregame publicity, the freshman sitcom aired its final episode a month later.

39:29 - A Deion Sanders feature. It's so 90's, it hurts.

52:11 - Tool Time!

1:18:05 - Are you ready for some football?

Finally, I want to take a special moment to highlight this one clip (starting at 10:14) about the 49ers figuring out how to beat the then-newly-enacted salary cap. The Niners had to figure out how to cut salaries from over $47 million to fit below the $33.6 million cap. Not only did GM Carmen Policy do it, he found a way to get free agents like Deion Sanders and Rickey Jackson to sign for less and join the team in the process.

Most importantly, the segment ends with Policy saying this:

""I have a samurai sword in the office and it is there for a specific purpose. If I don't preform my job in an honorable fashion, I am expected to do the honorable thing. That's the way we run the San Francisco 49ers.""

- Carmen Policy

Policy spent 14 seasons in San Francisco, first as vice president and then president and general manager. Even though he left in 1998 to become president of the Cleveland Browns, he apparently did so with honor as I can't find any news clippings about him committing Seppuku.

These days, Policy owns a vineyard. Enjoy the game.