[34][35] At the time of his death, Clark lived in Whitefish, Montana, with his wife Kelly. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Although Pete Carroll seems to want QB Geno Smith back in 2023, the Seahawks HC said Tuesday that picking at the No. Dwight Clarks The Catch is now immortalized in the sporting world. Receiver Dwight Clark makes "The Catch" on a pass from Joe Montana that tied the game late in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys in the 1982 NFC championship game. It's an extraordinary, enduring image - and, as Storey pointed out, it conveys Montana's touch as much as Clark's leaping ability. When asked about his team's success with the play, GM Howie Roseman said "All I know is everything we're doing is legal and works.". The third option would be to roll to the right and throw it high enough where it goes out of bounds or Dwight can jump up and catch it. I didn't want to take a loss in that situation. When the football gods decided to bestow everlasting glory on an athlete with a random moment of triumph, they picked the right guy in . "[20] In the early 1990s, Clark's catch had become the most requested clip in the archives of NFL Films, which was charging up to $5,000 for its use.[11]. Clarks catch was featured on TV shows and commercials and was even on the cover of Sports Illustrated gaining global notoriety for all the right reasons, and bringing widespread attention to the sport. Then Walls recovered a fumble from running back Walt Easley at midfield to set up White's 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Doug Cosbie, giving Dallas a 2721 advantage. Despite having quite an unmemorable rookie season and catching only 18 passes, Clark managed to make his mark with his team. Because Solomon, the first option, was covered, Montana was supposed to look to Clark as his second option. The Catch was the game-winning touchdown reception in the 1981 NFC Championship Game played between the Dallas Cowboys and the eventual Super Bowl XVI champion San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on January 10, 1982, as part of the 1981-82 NFL playoffs. Montana lines up at the five and on third down and three he rolls right, looking to throw looking to throw and he throws into the end zone Touchdown! Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin has several contracts and extensions to weigh as Cincinnati looks to stay a Super Bowl favorite in 2023, and he's been unwilling to give a concrete answer on running back Joe Mixon's future. Clark finished the game with 8 catches for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. On Sunday, Clark celebrated his 60th birthday. This included a 45-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys earlier on in the year. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. Ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco 49ers unveiled statues depicting "The Catch" -- Dwight Clark's iconic game-winning touchdown in the 1981 NFL. Solomon caught a quick sprintout pass from Montana for an 8-yard score. This article has all the answers that you need. [15] But they soon greatly improved, winning the Super Bowl at the ends of the 1981 and 1984 seasons, and, starting in 1981, making the playoffs every year Clark was with them except 1982. When the 49er contingent arrived on campus, Clark answered the phone by chance on his way out to play golf and was convinced to participate as Fuller's pass catcher at the workout, where Walsh was impressed with his receiving skills.[3][7][14]. Dallas responded with Danny White's 20-yard pass to Butch Johnson setting up a 44-yard field goal by Rafael Septin. Clark tallied 506 catches for 6,750 yards and 48 touchdowns, along with 50 rushing yards in his nine NFL seasons with the 49ers. However, Clark leaped as high as he could only to get his fingertips on the ball. A 22-year-old rookie free agent, Walls had led the NFL in interceptions that season with 11 a mark that went unmatched for 40 years until Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs did it this season. Another quarterback might not have artfully lobbed his pass high into the end zone the way Montana did. He was 61 years old. Montana completed a 6-yard pass to Freddie Solomon to get the first down, then handed off twice to Elliot who gained eleven and seven yards respectively, but dropped a second incomplete pass on second-and-three from their own 41-yard line. Except this time Montana, sprinting right, away from dominant Cowboys pass rusher Harvey Martin, faced a decision. Clark built his restaurant, Clark's By The Bay, the year he retired and decorated it with sports memorabilia including The Catch. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the play was immortalized in advertisements for Kodak film: a television commercial using a snippet of Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" as its jingle and featuring The Catch as shown by NFL Films, and a magazine ad featuring a photo still of The Catch, accompanied by the caption, "The 49ers grab a TD and a title.". With Brock Purdy and Trey Lance coming off injuries, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch didn't rule out adding a veteran signal-caller this offseason. 1 pick, 49ers figuring out how to take next step in Super Bowl quest, Ideal landing spots for the NFL's top 50 free agents: Here's where each player fits best, From Baroque to the big game: The fine art of the NFL playoffs, Where could Derek Carr land now? He was unhappy and considered transferring to play basketball at Appalachian State University, until he was finally allowed to play offense. Having taken the lead on Clarks catch and the PAT, the 49ers saw their defense snuffout a potential miracle Cowboys finish when Lawrence Pillers sacked Dallas QB Danny White, causing a fumble recovered by the Niners Jim Stuckey. As a sophomore, he was named the starter at strong safety, but he disliked the position and left school to go back to his hometown in Charlotte instead. The Buccaneers are planning to release RB Leonard Fournette when the new league year begins on March 15, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday. Photographer John Storey visits Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, where he captured the iconic image of Dwight Clark's famous touchdown catch against the Dallas Cowboys 30 years ago which earned the 49ers its first Super Bowl appearance in 1982. Give us another down to make a play.". In fact, before his infamous part in The Catch, the Cowboys cornerback had recovered a fumble by the 49ers Walt Easley. The Catch is widely regarded as one of the most memorable events in NFL history. Here's NFL Network's list of everything you need to know for the 49ers Wild Card matchup vs. the Seattle Seahawks. Late on in the fourth quarter with the game hanging in the balance and the 49ers trailing with 27-21, Montana swiftly guided the 49ers down the entire field. [4] Montana was supposed to roll to his right and find Solomon, who would run a short "square out" pattern that he would catch just past the first down marker, and either step out of bounds, giving the 49ers a fresh set of downs, or would turn upfield and score himself. Montana, looking looking throwing in the end zone. Clark stayed with Cleveland until 2001. Dwight Clark was never destined to be a star in the NFL, let alone make one of the greatest catches in NFL history. "Theres all kinds of versions of how we had practiced it, where we practiced it, when -- everybody remembers it a little bit different," Clark told the 49ers website in 2013. How did he die?. Immortalized in. [30] He had three children with Stone: a daughter, Casey, and two sons, Riley and Mac. [19] During the 1981 season, Walsh had Montana practice that part of the play back in training camp. In the game, momentum shifted back and forth between the two teams. "It was exciting," Storey said. 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark delivers a go-ahead touchdown in the 1981 NFL Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys, ranks No. How's this for an autograph gem: San Francisco 49ers legend Dwight Clark drawing up the play that was called on the famous "The Catch" in the 1981 playoffs. Local San Francisco radio station KCBS also provided their own broadcast, as they did for all 49ers games, with Don Klein and Wayne Walker providing the play-by-play and color respectively. Wrote Gergen in The Sporting News: Solomon broke for the flag but was covered. I feel honored people are still talking about it, 25 years later. The Catch. 3 of 5 4 of 5 Photographer John Storey visits Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, where he captured the iconic image of Dwight Clark's famous touchdown catch . "The Catch," 40 years ago this week, capped a magnificent 89-yard drive, a breathtaking 6-yard pass play, designed by coach Bill Walsh and executed spectacularly by quarterback Joe Montana and. Dwight Clark, the former 49ers star best known for his leaping TD catch that won the NFC Championship Game in 1982, says he has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Meanwhile, the Cowboys, one of the most successful NFC teams in the 1970s with five Super Bowl appearances and two wins, never made it back to the Super Bowl in the 1980s. Dwight Clark! What Clark displayed during the workout was something the 49ers and no other team had seen on tape. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. One is "The Catch," which happened 40 years ago on Jan. 10, 1982. 2 on the "NFL 100 Greatest" ranking of the top . Kid, please, don't insult me." Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark passed away Monday after his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The Cowboys fared no better as White was sacked twice on their next drive, once by Jim Stuckey and once by Lawrence Pillers, and the half ended soon after. Thats because Clark was never a featured receiver at Clemson. It was just a great life. [20] They moved to Santa Cruz. Clark then retired after the 1987 season finished, and in 1988, the 49ers eventually retired his jersey. In 2002, the NFL ran a series of advertisements promoting the playoffs, using famous plays as a uniting theme. Throughout the game, player momentum shifted equally between the two teams. Then 49ers running back Bill Ring lost a fumble on his own 29, leading to White's 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hill that put the Cowboys up 107. In 1988, he was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame. In 2021, Kroichick earned an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award for his feature on Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee conquering cancer. An All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion, Clark was diagnosed with. The 49ers then drove to the Dallas 16-yard line, but once again they failed to score when Montana threw a pass that bounced out of Elliot's hands and was intercepted by Randy White. Former San Francisco 49ers receiver Dwight Clark died on Monday after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In his senior season in 1978, the Tigers were 111, won the Gator Bowl over Ohio State, and finished sixth in the final AP poll. Whenever he caught the ball, he made it count and managed to average an impressive 18.8 yards per catch. What was Clark's cause of death? Clarks discovery was a complete accident, so the fact he was drafted and then made the roster of a respected team was seen to be quite surprising. Two subsequent touchdown passes by the 49ers to win home playoff games with the team trailing and facing 3rd and 3 with less than a minute to go have also been named after The Catch: 1981 NFC Championship Game: NFL Full Game, Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 14:31, 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship, "Jim jividen: Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 1", "1982 San Francisco 49ers offensive playbook", "49ers finally put away Cowboys To begin their Super Bowl run", "The backstory to Walter Iooss' photo of", "New England Patriots vs. Oakland Raiders Recap", "Joe Montana on 'The Catch' statues: 'An honor to be remembered forever', "100 Greatest Plays: Numbers 5-1 | NFL 100", @NFL: "No. He rolled right, pump-faked, then threw a high pass to the rear of the end zone. Dwight Clark has it! He retired after the 1987 season. Pearson would have scored had defensive back Eric Wright not made a one-handed horse-collar tackle. And as if all of that wasn't enough, the play call that ended with Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson hitting wide receiver Hunter Renfrow for the game-winning 2-yard touchdown against Alabama on Monday looked awfully familiar. E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick@sfchronicle.com. Making matters worse, the pass rush of the Cowboys collapsed the 49ers' offensive line. But I certainly suspect it did. On 3rd-and-3, Clark leaped and caught a 6-yard pass from quarterback Joe Montana in the back of the end zone to tie the score, and Ray Wersching's extra-point kick advanced the 49ers to Super Bowl XVI. As a junior, he was named a starter at wide receiver and was part of the team that qualified Clemson to the Gator Bowl, its first bowl game in 18 years. However, Solomon, as Montanas intended receiver, was covered by the Cowboys. New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, a Bay Area native who ultimately grew up idolizing Montana on his way to his own successful NFL career including seven Super Bowl wins, attended the game as a four-year-old and aspired to become a 49er.[7]. Walls and free safety Michael Downs were nearby. It's like a championship fight, like Snipes knocking down Holmes. The Catch is listed as #17. To honor his contribution to 49ers, the club retired his #87 in 1988. The 49ers were 214 in 1978 and had the same record in 1979. [25] Located in Redwood City, California, the restaurant was sold in 1993. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. The representation of Clark, with his hands outstretched, will extend 11 . As a freshman, he was moved to wide receiver, because the team had recruited four other quarterbacks. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- For former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark, there's something about ringing in the new year that brings good fortune. NFL+ gives you the freedom to watch LIVE out-of-market preseason games, LIVE local and primetime regular season and postseason games on your phone or tablet, the best NFL programming on-demand, and MORE! The play that afforded Watson the chance to throw or run for the score and sprung Renfrow with the pick/rub play had a striking resemblance to the play in which Montana found Clark. The 49ers representative convinced Clark to skip golf and serve as Fullers receiver during the quarterbacks workout. I may sit and think about that moment couple of times a year, and how awesome it was to be a part of that play and to be a part of the 49ers in the '80s. 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