Brian Peets is one of the most obscure players on the 1981 49ers, getting one catch for five yards at tight end. He came from the San Joaquin Valley, the town of Linden to be precise (Peets was named to Linden’s Hall of Fame in 2007), and was a high school football and basketball star with a passion for comic books. He went to University of the Pacific, caught on with the Seahawks after going undrafted, and spent 1978, 1979 and 1980 in Seattle. Peets caught on with the Niners in ’81, then ended his career because, as a Sacramento Bee profile explained in early 2008, the compensation to injury ratio was too low. Peets runs two A-1 Comics stores in Sacramento now, after spending time in the construction industry and building some houses.
He said of his one catch in ’81: “It’s not very flattering to me. I went out to block a guy and purposely fell down [then stood up and caught the pass].”
Peets added, in reference to getting a playoff share from the players: “I was pretty bummed out about being on the team that long and not going on to the playoffs. It was a show of respect and class. That was just the way that group of players were.”
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