The first play of any type in Seahawks history snapped against the San Francisco 49ers in a preseason contest on Aug. 1, 1976 at the Kingdome.
The play-by-play for what was the first play other than the kickoff on what was a first-and-10 from the 33 reads simply as “Olds rush 7.”
That’s a reference to running back Bill Olds, a three-year veteran who would play just one game for Seattle and was out of the league by the following year.
The 49ers held on to win that game 27-20.
Almost 47 years later, the Seahawks will face off against the 49ers for the 778th time with a lot more at stake in a wild card playoff contest Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
History paints Seattle in a favorable light in the series against the 49ers — the Seahawks are 30-19 all-time against San Francisco, including winning streaks of nine and six, and won the only postseason game between the two following the 2013 season.
Here’s a look at some highlights in the series history with the 49ers:
A memorable first
Steve Largent scored the first of what would eventually be an NFL record 100 receiving touchdowns (a mark since broken a handful of times and now held by Jerry Rice with 197) against the 49ers in what was both his and the Seahawks’ third game ever on Sept, 26, 1976 at the Kingdome on a six-yard pass from Jim Zorn. But alas, the 49ers held on to win 37-21.
An infamous last?
Back when he was known simply as an NFL running back, O.J. Simpson had about the last moment of glory in his career, scoring what was the last touchdown of his career in a game against Seattle for the 49ers at Candlestick Park on Oct. 7, 1979, in a game the Seahawks went on to win 35-24. Simpson, who played his last two years with the 49ers, had 71 yards that day but didn’t rush for more than 30 in any game the rest of the season after which he retired.
A coaching first
It may be forgotten now that the first game as Seahawks coach for Pete Carroll was somewhat fittingly against the 49ers considering Carroll is a native of the Bay Area. Less fitting is that the first offensive play of a Seahawks team coached by Carroll — one of whose famous mantras is “It’s all about the ball’’ — was an interception thrown by Matt Hasselbeck to Nate Clements. Also at odds with the Carroll Seattle fans came to know, the pick came after the Seahawks won the coin toss and opted to receive! No matter — Hasselbeck steadied himself from there to threw two touchdown passes as the Seahawks gave Carroll a winning debut with a 31-6 victory on Sept. 12, 2010.
The rout
The Legion of Boom-era Seahawks truly announced themselves on a raucous Sunday Dec. 23, 2012 night at the then-CenturyLink Field with a 42-13 win over the 49ers that was as dominant and impressive of a performance as that group would have, other than the Super Bowl win a year later. Seattle scored TDs on its first two drives against a 49ers team considered at the time the Super Bowl favorite, then blocked a field goal for a touchdown (a 90-yard return by Richard Sherman that remains the longest in team history) to take a 21-0 lead before the 49ers knew what hit them.
The Tip
Sherman would make an even more memorable play a year later (Jan. 19, 2014) in the only playoff game Seattle has played against the 49ers for the NFC conference title and right to go to the Super Bowl following the 2013 season. If you’re reading this, you may not need much of a recounting of that moment other than to wonder, as the years have now basically passed on the LOB era, about all of the possible ramifications if Sherman didn’t make that play. Would the Seahawks have been able to rally in the final 22 seconds to get a field goal attempt? If not, would they have been able to rally themselves to get back to the Super Bowl in 2014 and win it? Because of all it meant, that play remains the biggest in team history.
The breakout
What might be the most spectacular individual performance in the history of the series was turned in by what at the time was a most unlikely source — undrafted rookie free agent running back Thomas Rawls on Nov. 22, 2015. In what remains the second-most yards gained in a game in Seahawks history, Rawls rushed for 209 yards in a 29-13 win over the 49ers in what was also just his fourth career start. He also caught a 31-yard TD pass to salt the game away in the fourth quarter. Sadly, Rawls would suffer an ankle injury three games later and would start only 10 more games in his career.
The funniest moment
In a scene that came to symbolize the rivalry for a few years — even if it was a staged NBC-TV production — Sherman and Russell Wilson happily gobbled down turkey legs at midfield at Levi’s Stadium following a 19-3 win over the 49ers on Thanksgiving Day in 2014. Maybe more relevant is that season was the last of the Carroll-Jim Harbaugh coaching matchup between the two teams. Harbaugh left for his current job at Michigan the following year, which helped plunge the 49ers into obscurity for a few years. Seattle and the 49ers went a fitting 4-4 in the regular season during the years Harbaugh and Carroll faced off, with the Seahawks getting the upper hand (pun intended) in their one playoff meeting.