Sourdough Sam

Sourdough Sam is a mascot for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. History Before the introduction of Sourdough Sam, the 49ers' first mascot was a mule named Clementine that wore a red saddle blanket and appeared in the 1950s and 1960s. A gold rush prospector–themed character first appeared in the 1970s. The character's design reflected the cover art of programs created by William Kay between 1946 and 1949—when the 49ers were a part of the All-America Football Conference—which depicted a bushy-mustached prospector with two pistols. Sourdough Sam's persona later underwent a slight change from prospector to miner. As a miner, he depicted a large man with an oversized football helmet and plaid shirt matching that worn in the original William Kay cover art. Several elements of this version of Sourdough Sam, such as a bushy beard and suspenders, remained part of his image in later iterations. In 1985, this version of Sourdough Sam appeared in a cookbook titled 49er Fixens.