In 1980, Steve Deberg, 49ers QB, wore a backpack speaker & mic to call plays

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In 1980, 49ers QB Steve DeBerg had trouble projecting his voice at the line of scrimmage.

What happened next was truly shocking.

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In September 1980, before the lowly 49ers and novice head coach Bill Walsh were known as trailblazers, they devised a way to do the impossible: Make a near-voiceless quarterback sound like he was screaming.

Unlike the West Coast offense, this innovation was born of desperation.

Their starting quarterback, Steve DeBerg, had damaged vocal cords from a hit to the neck, and a throat specialist had offered a remedy incompatible with his job duties.

“He told me the quickest way to recover was to not speak for a month,” DeBerg recalled. “I said, “I’m an NFL quarterback. I have to yell over 75,000 fans. I can’t not talk.’”

The dilemma, which DeBerg faced 40 years ago this month as he competed with unproven backup Joe Montana, inspired a new and later banned communication system that’s a funky and mostly forgotten part of NFL history.

For three early-season games, DeBerg, reduced to a whisper, communicated with a speaker, amplifier and power pack affixed to the back of his shoulder pads. The bulky boombox-shaped contraption made him look odd but allowed him to easily audible and call signals.

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