Just like the rest of the country, the 49ers had difficulty bridging their generations

This was the Green Bay Packers’ decade, winning five championships under coach Vince Lombardi, including the first two Super Bowls. The 49ers were right in character — highly entertaining, no rings — but this time, they didn’t make the playoffs at all.

It does sound nice in retrospect. Among those revered for the pure act of throwing a football, John Brodie ranked with Unitas, Joe Namath, Sonny Jurgensen and all the rest. He had excellent receivers in Bernie Casey and Dave Parks, and in 1965 Brodie led the league with his 61.9 percent accuracy, 3,112 yards and 30 touchdown passes. It was quite the lovehate thing in the stands; fans loved to get on Brodie’s case at Kezar, but they quickly changed their tune during his best performances. They were simply too exquisite to ignore.

The problem was an aging roster, with McElhenny, Perry, Wilson, St. Clair and Nomellini on the way out. ( Owens played just five seasons with the 49ers and was out of the league by 1965.) New stars were emerging, some of the NFL’s best: linebacker Dave Wilcox, running back J. D. Smith, center Forrest Blue, defensive tackle Charlie Krueger, cornerbacks Jimmy Johnson and Kermit Alexander. But things just never connected. The 49ers had a 75 record in 1960 and couldn’t top that for the rest of the decade.

Wherever you were, the Sixties were as wild and unpredictable as a Jimi Hendrix concert. “In Chicago, we played at Wrigley Field,” Wilcox recalled from his home in Junction

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