If you're a fan of the San Francisco 49ers, your week has already been bad enough due to the Super Bowl loss, but now, we're about to make things worse by telling you this: Getting back to the Super Bowl has been nearly impossible over the past 30 years when a team is in the exact situation that the 49ers are in.
As pointed out by our CBS Sports research team, of the last 18 quarterbacks to lose in their Super Bowl debut, NONE of them made it back to the big game as a starter in their career. Purdy made his Super Bowl debut this year, and if the trend holds, then he won't be returning to the big game.
This trend dates all the way back to the 1994 season when Stan Humphries and the Chargers lost to the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX. Since then, there have been 17 more quarterbacks to lose their Super Bowl debut and none of them have made it back to the big game.
Here's the list of the past 18 quarterbacks who lost their Super Bowl debut and never made it back to another one:
Super Bowl XXIX: Stan Humphries (Chargers)
Super Bowl XXX: Neil O'Donnell (Steelers)
Super Bowl XXXI: Drew Bledsoe (Patriots) -- Bledsoe did return as a backup, but that doesn't count
Super Bowl XXXIII: Chris Chandler (Falcons)
Super Bowl XXIV: Steve McNair (Titans)
Super Bowl XXXV: Kerry Collins (Giants)
Super Bowl XXXVII: Rich Gannon (Raiders)
Super Bowl XXXVIII: Jake Delhomme (Panthers)
Super Bowl XXXIX: Donovan McNabb (Eagles)
Super Bowl XL: Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks)
Super Bowl XLI: Rex Grossman (Bears)
Super Bowl XLVII: Colin Kaepernick (49ers)
Super Bowl 50: Cam Newton (Panthers)
Super Bowl LI: Matt Ryan (Falcons)
Super Bowl LIII: Jared Goff (Rams)
Super Bowl LIV: Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers)
Super Bowl LVI: Joe Burrow (Bengals)
Super Bowl LVII: Jalen Hurts (Eagles)
The 49ers already have two quarterbacks on this list, and Purdy could soon be the third.
The last QB to buck this trend was Jim Kelly, who lost his Super Bowl debut in 1990, but then ended up making it back three straight seasons after that. Of course, the Bills went 0-4 with Kelly, so that might not actually make anyone on this list feel any better.
Although no one has made it back, several quarterbacks have come close, including Jared Goff. The Lions QB came just one game away from ending this 30-year run, but Detroit lost to San Francisco in the NFC title game.
Goff is one of four quarterbacks who came one game away from bucking this trend, but none have been able to get over the hump. Burrow, Garoppolo and Kaepernick also came close to ending the streak, but like Goff, all three guys ended up falling one game short of a possible Super Bowl return (Kaepernick's 49ers lost the NFC title game in 2013 while Garoppolo's 49ers lost the NFC Championship in 2021 followed by Burrow's Bengals losing in the 2022 AFC title game).
Basically, if Purdy gets back to the Super Bowl with the 49ers, he'd be making history, but 49ers fans probably shouldn't count on it based on this stat.
John Elway was the last QB to win a Lombardi Trophy after losing his Super Bowl debut. Elway's Broncos lost to the Giants in his first big game start in Super Bowl XXI, but he finally got over the hump 11 years later by beating the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Elway actually lost two more Super Bowls before his first win, so his career record in the big game was 0-3 before he notched his first of two championships.
Only one QB has lost his Super Bowl debut and then followed that up with a Super Bowl win the following season, and that was Bob Griese. The former Dolphins QB lost to the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI, before leading them to a victory over Washington in Super Bowl VII to cap off Miami's undefeated season in 1972. However, Purdy might not want to go down that path, because Griese only started six games in 1972 due to a broken ankle he suffered in October of that year.
