Bill Johnson, 49ers Center

January 8th, 2011  |  Published in Player Deaths  |  2 Comments

Bill Johnson 1950 Bowman rookie football cardBill “Tiger” Johnson, a center for the San Francisco 49ers from 1948 to 1956, passed away on January 7. Johnson was a Pro Bowler for the 49ers in 1952 and 1953. After his playing days, Johnson went on to a long coaching career, including three seasons as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. An article on the San Francisco Chronicle web site provides a nice summary of Johnson’s career.

Pictured here is Johnson’s rookie card, a 1950 Bowman. He also had a 1955 Bowman football card, and he appeared on numerous 49ers team issue photos, both as a player and a coach. You can see several of Johnson’s cards and team issue photos in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

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Responses

  1. Steve Liskey says:

    January 8th, 2011 at 3:56 PM (#)

    Are you predicting the future now Mike? You have the date of Jan 11th for Bill Johnson’s death. Today is the 8th.

  2. nearmint says:

    January 8th, 2011 at 4:04 PM (#)

    Huh, I have no idea how I did that. It’s fixed now–thanks, Steve.