The 49ers didn’t win any Super Bowls in the 1970s. In fact they lost 22 games more than they won. But for much of the decade they had a stout defensive line. Cedrick Hardman, a fearsome defensive end who died last week at 70, was the best of the bunch.
A 6-foot-3, 255-pound pass rusher supreme, Hardman was selected by the 49ers with the ninth overall pick in the 1970 draft. He played 10 seasons with San Francisco, appearing in 139 regular season games and missing only five. Sacks? He had a sack full of them. How many is unknown.