Remembering 'Joe the Jet' Perry

The Forty Niners wore a number '34' sticker on their gold helmets the day that hard working running back Frank Gore broke Joe Perry's 49er NFL rushing record of 7,323 yards. Perry out of Compton College and the Alameda Naval Air Station spent 1948 and 1949 seasons with the Niners in the All-America Football Conference gaining an additional 1,345 which are not part of his record. The new league never gained any respect from the old NFL even though the Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship in their first year after merging along with the 49ers and the Colts.

The NFL is different today. Frank Gore is the one running back and the NFL schedule is 16 games while in Joe Perry's day they played 12 games and Perry a fullback was one of three backs such as Hall of Famers John Henry Johnson and Hugh McElhenny who could be called upon to carry the ball on a given play.

The 1948 picture of 'Joe the Jet' at the left shows that there have been many changes over the years.

Joe is wearing number '74' his original number with the team until the NFL standardized numbers by position in 1951 and then Joe became number '34'.

In the picture to the right you will notice that the Niners wore Cardinal red jerseys and silver pants in the early years. For most of the last fifty years they have worn a variety of gold colored pants with different shades of red jerseys.

Joe is wearing a 'Heisman' type of leather helmet with no face guard which was designed to protect the player rather than being used as a weapon like the helmets worn today.

Homer Sweeney