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Faithful Flashbacks #56: Fred Warner’s Fumble Record

In honor of the San Francisco 49ers celebrating their 80th anniversary, Sactown Sports is kicking off a countdown of the 80 greatest moments in the franchise’s illustrious history in reverse order called “Faithful Flashbacks.”

From Super Bowl-winning plays to overperforming teams that had minimal expectations, there’s plenty to choose from the team with five titles under its belt.

The voting was conducted by a handful of the Sactown Sports’ staffers before results were compiled into a full list that will count down to the 49ers’ 2026 NFL regular season debut against the Rams in Melbourne, Australia, on September 10th.

Faithful Flashbacks -- San Francisco 49ers 80 Best Moments

Coming in at No. 56 on our ‘Faithful Flashbacks’ countdown is Fred Warner becoming the 49ers’ all-time forced fumbles leader.

Over the course of his ongoing career, Warner has become one of the defining defensive players of this 49ers era.

Since being a third-round pick in 2018, he has become the standard for modern linebacker play in San Francisco, with a wide variety of talents and leadership from the middle of the defense.

The player he surpassed for the franchise’s all-time forced fumbles record fittingly played a similar role in the years prior.

Patrick Willis remains one of the greatest linebackers in franchise history, a Hall of Famer whose peak helped bring a defensive identity back to the 49ers.

Warner moving ahead of Willis in that defensive category speaks for itself.

The moment came in Week 4 of the 2025 season against Jacksonville, when Warner recorded the 17th forced fumble of his career.

Fred Warner passes Patrick Willis for the most forced fumbles (18) in 49ers franchise history pic.twitter.com/qJHGFXk6m1

— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) September 28, 2025

That tally moved him past Willis for the most forced fumbles by a 49ers player since the stat officially started being tracked in 1994.

That accomplishment speaks directly to Warner’s impact and his desire to force turnovers, as he’s become well-known for attempting to punch the ball away rather than just going for standard tackles.

Warner has repeatedly created possession-changing moments for San Francisco.

Willis helped set the standard for what an elite 49ers linebacker looked like, and Warner has carried that standard forward, becoming one of the faces of the franchise through multiple deep playoff runs and deep Super Bowl appearances.

The career, franchise-record-setting milestone may not have been the biggest individual moment, but it represents the impact Warner has had on the team.

Still ongoing, he has a chance to continue expanding on that record and likely hopes to add more team-focused hardware to his trophy case as well.