THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Ol’ Brodie went Avondale way, as well

We might have been a little late getting the paper wrapped up on Friday night, but trust me, it was worth it. 

Vintage videos of John Brodie, who passed away Friday at age 90, kept popping up on social media, and well, maybe I just had to watch a few (hundred?) of them. 

And reminisce. 

And think about the posters. 

And the mentions in Sports Illustrated. 

Many of you longtime North Idahoans may remember Brodie as someone who used to vacation here when his family moved to the area in the mid-1960s. Or in later years, to visit his kid sister, Katie Brodie, who still lives in Hayden Lake. 

To me, he was San Francisco’s quarterback when the 49ers became the favorite team of a kid growing up in Salem, Ore., and beginning his love of sports in the late 1960s. 

BACK THEN, that team in Seattle which is playing today wasn’t even a thought. 

There was no NFL Sunday Ticket back then, but there were also fewer teams, and it seemed the 49ers or Rams were on television every Sunday, often playing against each other. 

My older brother Steve became a fan of Roman Gabriel, the Fearsome Foursome and the Rams. 

I got hooked on John Brodie, Gene Washington and the Niners. 

They were good then, too. 

In 1970, the first year of the AFL-NFL merger, Brodie was the NFL MVP, and the 49ers were one game away from Super Bowl V (5, if you’re not into Roman numerals), but lost to the Dallas Cowboys. 

Next year, same thing in the NFC title game. 

We'd like to forget the next year, when they had the Cowboys beat before letting them off the hook in the divisional playoff.

That would turn out to be as close as the Niners would come to a Super Bowl until a decade later. 

THERE WAS the SI cover in 1971 of Brodie at the line of scrimmage, barking out signals, with the headline “Look Out For The 49ers!” 

I may still have that one — unless the cat got to it first. 

One year during that stretch in the early 1970s, Brodie threw (I think) an agonizing six interceptions against the Detroit Lions at Tiger Stadium. That was back in the days when quarterbacks threw lots of interceptions. But they also threw lots of touchdown passes. In fact, Brodie threw more interceptions (231) in his career than touchdown passes (218). Now, it’s about efficiency, passer ratings and checkdowns. Back then, QBs just slung it. 

Then, as the end of his career neared, he would give us a taste of the ol’ Brodie magic. 

Late in the 1972 season, Brodie came off the bench to rally the 49ers past the Minnesota Vikings at Candlestick Park to win the Western Division, throwing a late touchdown pass to a backup end named Dick Witcher and being carried off the field on the shoulders of adoring fans. 

“Ol’ Brodie Went Witcher Way,” said the headline for the SI story. 

(Or I think that’s what it said — again, the cat.) 

A poster of John Brodie still hangs on the wall in my basement — the veteran QB, in his road white jersey, dropping back to pass as lineman Len Rohde drops into position to block for him. 

SEE, I knew all about John Brodie long before there was a local reason to know a lot about John Brodie. 

Those heartbreaking 49er playoff losses in the early 1970s, we watched from our living room in Salt Lake City. 

After he retired, and we moved to Spokane, I listened to Brodie when he became NBC’s No. 1 football analyst, and later watched him on TV when he played on the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour), even winning one event. 

Then one year in the late 1980s, a few years after I had moved to North Idaho, there was a guy who looked familiar, in the first slot just outside the pro shop at the driving range at Avondale Golf Club in Hayden Lake, hitting balls.  

It looked like he might have been getting a lesson. Or maybe, now thinking about it again, maybe he was giving one. 

It was John Brodie, only feet away from what was then the first tee at Avondale. 

He’s not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but many think he should be.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.