TAB420":hdbn4s6x said:And how many of those whiner titles came before free agency and the salary cap? Different league now. Can you imagine that 2013 team with no cap, no free agency, and the world's richest owner?
That's just the dumbest thing ever.
I don't claim the 5 rings as if they are relevant now, but claiming it was somehow easier because there was no salary cap is just ludicrous. I'm willing to bet you weren't even a football fan when those seasons took place.
You are correct that there was no salary cap and owners could pay whatever they wanted, but what is ALSO true is that there was NO FREE AGENCY. There was no going and getting the best free agents and there was no over paying to keep people because nobody could leave unless released.
That means teams were build via the draft and trades.
The 49ers stars of the 80s and 90s were DRAFTED (or traded for, like Steve Young).
The salary cap was instituted SPECIFICALLY to control spending in a Free Agent world and stop a team from being the Yankees.
What you are also ignoring is that the players who were on the 5 49ers championship teams were radically different. Jerry Rice wasn't on the team for their first 2. Steve young was the QB of the 5th. They had different RBs throughout: Patton/Cooper, Tyler/Craig, Craig/Rathman x2, Watters/Floyd. WRs went from Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon to Jerry Rice and John Taylor. Defense changed dramatically. Pass rushers from Fred Dean to Charles Haley.
There is no question it was easier to keep a team together, but it was FAR harder to assemble the team to begin with and remain great with low draft picks and no free agency.
There are alot of teams who got good for awhile, but only ONE team won 5 rings in a single era with multiple starting casts.
None of this is to claim some relevancy over anything today or to imply one franchise better than the other, but dismissing the rings because they were prior to the salary cap is just stupid.