The 1963 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 14th season in the National Football League and their 18th overall.
The 49ers attempted to improve on their 6–8 record from the previous season and make it to the playoffs for the first time in 5 seasons. However, the team lost all of their preseason games and lost their first 3 games of the season under incumbent coach Red Hickey, who resigned after the loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3. Under interim (and later incumbent) head coach Jack Christiansen, the team won only 2 of their last 10 games, and finished with a 2–12 record, missing the playoffs for the 6th straight year.
This was the last season in which the colors were red and silver. The following season, after switching back and forth twice in their history, the team permanently switched to red and gold. It was also the last season the white uniforms did not match the red uniforms; after this season the shoulder stripes on the white uniforms were replaced with the three red stripes on the sleeve, similar to the three white stripes on the red uniforms.
Offseason NFL draft
1963 San Francisco 49ers draft Round Selection Player Position College Note 1 8 Kermit Alexander DB UCLA 2 21 Walt Rock G Maryland 3 36 Don Lisbon DB Bowling Green 4 46 Hatch Rosdahl G Penn State from Philadelphia Eagles 49 Traded to the Bears 50 Hugh Campbell DE Washington State from Washington Redskins 5 64 Vern Burke DE Oregon State 65 Jim PilotDB New Mexico State from Cleveland Browns 66 Gary Moeller G Ohio State from Chicago Bears 6 77 Pat Emerick G Western Michigan 7 92 Ernest DeCourley T Moorhead State 8 105 Roger Locke E Arizona State 9 120 John Maczuzak T Pittsburgh 10 133 Dick Lopour B Huron 11 148 Steve Shafer B Utah State 12 161 Bob Benton T Mississippi State 13 176 Dick Schultz T Ohio 14 189 Bill Tobin B Missouri 15 204 Oliver Ross B West Texas State 16 217 Jim Bogdalek T Toledo 17 232 Ken Reed G Tulsa 18 245 John Sellers T Bakersfield J.C. 19 260 Bob Price G North Texas State 20 273 Don Davis B McMurry
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Location Attendance Sources 1 August 10 Minnesota Vikings L 28–43 0–1 Portland, Oregon 20,837 2 August 16 St. Louis Cardinals L 22–24 0–2 Salt Lake City 19,038 3 August 25 Cleveland Browns L 7–24 0–3 Kezar Stadium 28,335 4 August 29 Dallas Cowboys L 24–37 0–4 Bakersfield, California 9,927 5 September 7 at Los Angeles Rams L 0–17 0–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 34,405
Regular season Schedule Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Sources 1 September 15 Minnesota Vikings L 20–24 0–1 Kezar Stadium 30,781 Recap 2 September 22 Baltimore Colts L 14–20 0–2 Kezar Stadium 31,006 Recap 3 September 29 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–45 0–3 Metropolitan Stadium 28,567 Recap 4 October 6 at Detroit Lions L 3–26 0–4 Tiger Stadium 44,088 Recap 5 October 13 at Baltimore Colts L 3–20 0–5 Memorial Stadium 56,962 Recap 6 October 20 Chicago Bears W 20–14 1–5 Kezar Stadium 35,837 Recap 7 October 27 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–28 1–6 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 45,532 Recap 8 November 3 Detroit Lions L 7–45 1–7 Kezar Stadium 33,511 Recap 9 November 10 Dallas Cowboys W 31–24 2–7 Kezar Stadium 29,563 Recap 10 November 17 at New York Giants L 14–48 2–8 Yankee Stadium 62,982 Recap 11 November 24 at Green Bay Packers L 10–28 2–9 County Stadium 45,905 Recap 12 December 1 Los Angeles Rams L 17–21 2–10 Kezar Stadium 33,321 Recap 13 December 8 at Chicago Bears L 7–27 2–11 Wrigley Field 46,994 Recap 14 Green Bay Packers L 17–21 2–12 Kezar Stadium 31,031 Recap Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.
Notes In the September 29 game at Minnesota, John Brodie suffered a season-ending injury. The following week at Detroit, Bob Waters made his first career start at quarterback. On October 20 against Chicago, Lamar McHan took over as starting quarterback for the Niners, and led them to their first victory since December 2, 1962.
Standings
Personnel Staff and Coaches
Roster
Awards, records, and honors Tommy Davis: Pro Bowl selection Abe Woodson: Pro Bowl selection
References
External links 1963 49ers on Pro Football Reference 49ers Schedule on jt-sw.com