Not a single Niner statue...

[Rathman44]

Zinedine Zidane - Paris - Sports Figures With Their Own Statues - Photos - SI.com

You have to believe they'll start unveiling statues at the new stadium. I wonder if they already have some in the works. Here are my guesses of who will get a statue eventually...

Joe (maybe with a corresponding Dwight "The Catch" statue?)
Jerry
Walsh
Steve
Debartolo (the kid loves his uncle)
Ronnie (with the shortened pinky!)

That's a ton of statues to put up over the coming years! Hard to make an argument against any of them too IMO. I think Bryant Young is probably the closest one to this list, but I don't see it happening.

 

[ChrisPozz]

Statues? Plural? Maybe. My first question would be how many NFL stadiums have more than two or three statues outside? Are NFL statues as common as, say, NBA statues? Statues seem like one of the least common ways teams honor players anymore. No? Rings of honor, retiring a player's number, and inducting a player into a team Hall of Fame seem like more common ways than building a statue? No?

The 49ers have already earmarked a 15,000 square foot space for the team's Hall of Fame at the new stadium and have said that they expect it to be the biggest and most innovative of all team HOF locations. My guess is that they put their resources into building that rather than erecting a bunch of different statues around the stadium, though I can't say that for sure.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

We're definitely seeing more and more statues though.....there are 3 outside AT & T park, with Mays, Marichal and McCovey.

 

[Rathman44]

I agree that there aren't as many football statues as baseball/basketball/hockey, but I do think we see more and more statues pop up these days outside stadiums. They are incredibly popular and I'd be surprised if we don't see any outside the new stadium despite the extensive team HOF museum. I don't think it'll be anytime in the near future, but once everything is settled in at the new stadium I could see that being their next project. If anything, I think the team HOF is a sign of how dedicated the organization is to honoring the past and increases the chances of statues popping up outside the stadium.

I think Joe-to-Dwight statues honoring "The Catch" would be awesome outside the main corner entrance.

 

[MrChangoT97]

Should do something for all of the 49er Hall Of Famers!

 

[MHSL82]

Zinedine Zidane - Paris - Sports Figures With Their Own Statues - Photos - SI.com

You have to believe they'll start unveiling statues at the new stadium. I wonder if they already have some in the works. Here are my guesses of who will get a statue eventually...

Joe (maybe with a corresponding Dwight "The Catch" statue?)
Jerry
Walsh
Steve
Debartolo (the kid loves his uncle)
Ronnie (with the shortened pinky!)

That's a ton of statues to put up over the coming years! Hard to make an argument against any of them too IMO. I think Bryant Young is probably the closest one to this list, but I don't see it happening.

If you did one, you'd have to do at least four of those. That, to me, would seem to be too many. But who could you leave out? Perhaps you commemorate Walsh differently because he's not a player? But even three is a lot for one stadium. We have too many greats for that, imo.

 

[Flyingiguana]

the only statue really should be walsh.

 

[ChrisPozz]

I did a little more work on this last night after I talked about it. Jed has addressed building a statue in the past, specifically one for Walsh. At the time he said there were no plans for anything like that and mentioned that they had already named the field at Candlestick Bill Walsh Field. He said that it was possible they would carry that over to the new stadium.

He has addressed honoring former players a number of times since then and each time he has mentioned the game day ceremonies they were planning or had already conducted where the player's number would be retired.

He has also mentioned inducting players into the 49ers team Hall of Fame (named The Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr 49ers Hall of Fame). Like I said last night, the team is putting alot of resources into building the team's Hall of Fame and that's going to be a focal point at the new stadium.

Between that, building the team's HOF into the "most innovative" team HOF and giving fans the "best fan experience" at a HOF in the NFL, I would not expect anything like that at the stadium for the foreseeable future. The Yorks, specifically Jed, could change his mind or decide to all of a sudden do it, but they've never shown as far as I know to be all that interested in erecting a statue or statues and honoring somebody that way.

 

[SRPnVA]

This year the O's have unveiled 6 statues at camden yards for their hall of famers. Nicely done and in a nice part of the park.

 

[maniax]

TO's should go up first IMHO.

 

[mem49er]

TO's should go up first IMHO.

Shut it.

His goes in Cowboy stadium...on the star.

 

[Rathman44]

I did a little more work on this last night after I talked about it. Jed has addressed building a statue in the past, specifically one for Walsh. At the time he said there were no plans for anything like that and mentioned that they had already named the field at Candlestick Bill Walsh Field. He said that it was possible they would carry that over to the new stadium.

He has addressed honoring former players a number of times since then and each time he has mentioned the game day ceremonies they were planning or had already conducted where the player's number would be retired.

He has also mentioned inducting players into the 49ers team Hall of Fame (named The Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr 49ers Hall of Fame). Like I said last night, the team is putting alot of resources into building the team's Hall of Fame and that's going to be a focal point at the new stadium.

Between that, building the team's HOF into the "most innovative" team HOF and giving fans the "best fan experience" at a HOF in the NFL, I would not expect anything like that at the stadium for the foreseeable future. The Yorks, specifically Jed, could change his mind or decide to all of a sudden do it, but they've never shown as far as I know to be all that interested in erecting a statue or statues and honoring somebody that way.

I love how much energy/money they are putting into honoring the past. You're probably right that they don't have any immediate statue plans, I just think years down the line they will end up doing some to spruce up the stadium and add something new. Jed is about my age and those teams of the 80s and 90s are beyond legendary when it comes to my sports memories. I'm sure it's even more so for him and I think he will do everything he can to keep these memories alive. The Hall of Fame should be awesome.

On a separate note and since you mentioned the field name, do you know if they are planning on going with a sponsor for the stadium's name? Any word on that?

 

[FourBeeDen]

What would be a great statue to have in the new stadium would be Walsh and Montana drawing up plays on the field

 

[Flyingiguana]

What would be a great statue to have in the new stadium would be Walsh and Montana drawing up plays on the field

+1^

 

[ChrisPozz]

On a separate note and since you mentioned the field name, do you know if they are planning on going with a sponsor for the stadium's name? Any word on that?

York confirmed in February that they will look for a stadium naming rights deal. Since then, Apple and Google have been rumored as possible bidders for the naming rights, but I haven't seen anything other than that.

 

[MHSL82]

What would be a great statue to have in the new stadium would be Walsh and Montana drawing up plays on the field

Wasn't this checking the wind by dropping grass clippings? I heard that when someone was demonstrating how detailed Walsh was. I've also seen videos of him doing that so that might be me mixing the two images. But drawing up plays on the field might be better for lay fans.

 

[tallglassofwater007]

Wasn't this checking the wind by dropping grass clippings? I heard that when someone was demonstrating how detailed Walsh was. I've also seen videos of him doing that so that might be me mixing the two images. But drawing up plays on the field might be better for lay fans.

You can't really check the wind direction and strength from that close to the ground. Unless he is grabbing grass and then standing back up, but then I don't see why they would both be doing it. From the looks of that photo I would guess drawing up plays, or even just down on a knee talking.

 

[Rathman44]

What would be a great statue to have in the new stadium would be Walsh and Montana drawing up plays on the field

I'd still like to see the Joe to Dwight statues out front framing the corner entrance, but this idea would be really cool too. Especially if it was situated so people could kneel down in between and take photos with them.

 

[wartyOne]

the only statue really should be walsh.

Walsh. Definitely.

You can't leave Joe Cool out of the statues.

Young (either of them) really isn't, and shouldn't be, in the discussion.

 

[wartyOne]

TO's should go up first IMHO.

This is a joke, right?

Seriously, Owens is one of the biggest black eyes in franchise history. He's not Lawrence Phillips, but he's not much better.