[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. Dwight Clark: The Catch. Dwight Clarks The Catch is now immortalized in the sporting world. How do I notate repeating changing time signatures? The 1990s, however, saw a renewal of the Cowboys-49ers rivalry fueled by "The Catch" game. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Tuesday marks the 30th anniversary of the most famous single moment in Bay Area sports history. To his credit, when he did catch the ball, he made it count and averaged 18.8 yards per catch. Visit NFL.com's transaction hub for a daily breakdown. Thanks For Watching and bless uP !Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. 64: 2011 NFC Divisional Playoff - Saints vs. 49ers "The Catch III" (Jan. 14, 2012) #NFL100 @49ers @VernonDavis85 Television: NFL 100 Greatest Games on @NFLNetwork, "TD could become 'The Catch III' in 49ers lore", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Catch_(American_football)&oldid=1142103148, January 1982 sports events in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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. Photo by John Storey/ San Francisco Examiner/Bancroft Library. This included a 45-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys earlier on in the year. Not only did San Franciscos winstart a dynasty, but its victory over Dallas also signaled the impending end of another: theCowboys underlegendary coach Tom Landry. "I thought it was too high," said the 6-3 Clark, "because I don't jump that well. This meant Montana had to improvise. Dwight's personality and his sense of humor endeared him to everyone he came into contact with, even during his most trying times. The Niners would win four of the next eight Super Bowls, ultimately finishing with five titles. "I don't know for sure. The Catch happened when Montana called Change Left Slot Sprint Right Option.. Montana confirmed that he could not see the end zone through the defenders, but claims that he knew exactly where Clark would be. The representative of the 49ers on the other end managed to convince Clark to serve as Fullers receiver during his workout instead of playing golf. He scored a pair of touchdowns. The statue features two life-size figures, Montana with his arms in the air celebrating the touchdown and, 23 yards away, Clark leaping to make The Catch. He had two cameras, one with a 400-millimeter lens for capturing action at a distance. Former San Francisco 49ers great Dwight Clark dies at 61 after battling ALS Skip to main content Skip to navigation Full Scoreboard Search You have reached ESPN's UK edition. Commanders wide receiver Jahan Dotson is "fired up" to work with Washington's new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Jim Stuckey recovered the dropped ball, giving the 49ers offense possession near midfield, and allowing Montana to kneel down twice and run out the clock. To honor his contribution to 49ers, the club retired his #87 in 1988. New San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh visited Clemson in 1979 to take a look at quarterback Steve Fuller, Clarks roommate. The representation of Clark, with his hands outstretched, will extend 11 feet in the air. Montana threw three interceptions, and Niners backs fumbled three times. ", Holmes, of course, was heavyweight champion Larry Holmes. "I'm sure the Dallas defense is saying, We forced six errors. And they'd be right. 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: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I love him and will miss him terribly. It's an extraordinary, enduring image - and, as Storey pointed out, it conveys Montana's touch as much as Clark's leaping ability. On television, Vin Scully called the play-by-play and Hank Stram did the color commentary. 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. Local Dallas radio station KRLD also provided their own broadcast, as they did for all Cowboys games, with Verne Lundquist and Brad Sham providing the play-by-play and color respectively. Just before being chased out of bounds, and after a pump-fake caused the 6-foot 9-inch (206 cm) "Too Tall" Jones to leave his feet, Montana threw a high pass to the back of the end zone that seemed to be heading out of bounds until Clark, closely covered by Cowboys defender Everson Walls, made a leaping catch with his fingertips, and landed just in-bounds at the back right corner of the end zone to score the touchdown and tie the game with 51 seconds left. [19] During the 1981 season, Walsh had Montana practice that part of the play back in training camp. He still has his dashing good looks and easy smile, but he's much thinner than he was as a player in the 1980s, when he and quarterback Joe Montana were the toast of San Francisco. In 2005, a commercial for the Gatorade sports drink, known as "The Winning Formula", portrayed an alternate version of The Catch, in which the ball bounced out of Clark's fingertips. Of all the impressive receptions ever made in the 100 years of the NFL, only Clarks reception from Joe Montana is called The Catch.He played his entire career for the San Francisco 49ers before retiring after the 1987 season. Clark spiked the ball. "The Catch" - January 10, 1982 Before "The Catch" Because Solomon, the first option, was covered, Montana was supposed to look to Clark as his second option. Four plays later, White passed 21 yards to tight end Doug Cosbie for a touchdown and a 27-21 Cowboys lead in the fourth quarter. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports. Walsh invited the receiver to come along and catch passes for his roommate. diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). After calling a timeout, White took the first down snap and was sacked by Lawrence Pillers, fumbling in the process. He later married Ashley Stone, whom he met during the summer of 1982. This is because Clark was never a featured receiver at Clemson. The San Francisco 49ers, whom he helped make as a brand and an artistic force, are at one of their occasional and profound competitive ebbs, which means that, just as 1981, he comes along at just the right time. In the second quarter, Clark caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Montana that gave the 49ers a 14-10 lead. San Francisco wide receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone to complete a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Montana, enabling the 49ers to defeat the Cowboys, 2827. The touchdown, of course, propelled the 49ers to a 28-27 victory over Dallas in the NFC Championship Game. Clark curled into the end zone, braked at the end line and looked for his quarterback. Caught by (Dwight) Clark! Montana launched his next pass into the end zone, but missed Solomon. Suffice it to say, expectations werent exactly high ahead of the 1981 season. The crowd erupted. Following his sterling career on the field, Clark worked his way through San Francisco's front office, ultimately rising to general manager. Yikes. "I thought of throwing it away, Montana said. 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. He fired the ball high, higher actually than intended, but he explained, This is something we work on from Day One in camp. visitvirginiacitynv.com. John Taylor was better than I was, so I couldnt come out of the game. 4 Share 165 views 1 year ago 1/10/1981 - This day in 1981 During the NFC Championship Game between The San Francisco 49ers and The Dallas Cowboys , with 58 seconds left in the game Dwight Clark. 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. A big, physical target at 6-foot-4, Clark emerged as Hall of Famer Joe Montana's go-to receiver as Bill Walsh's West Coast offense reigned supreme throughout the 1980s. The 6-foot-4. This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 14:31. Touchdown, San Francisco, by Dwight Clark! Despite the hurried and improvised look of the play on the field, it had mostly run according to plan. After retiring Dwight Clark remained a part of the 49ers organization working as an executive in the front office. [30] He had three children with Stone: a daughter, Casey, and two sons, Riley and Mac. The ex-boyfriend had a gun, she said. Its the same play Niners QB coach Sam Wyche called from the coaches booth on third and 3 from the Cowboys 6 with 58 seconds to play. 'The Catch' at 40: 5 things to know about that 49ers-Cowboys game. There are plays that stand by themselves in sports. You won't want to miss a moment of the 2022 season! The Catch and Ray Werschings ensuing PAT gave the 49ers a 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. The game was broadcast nationally in the United States by CBS. There were 58 seconds left in the game and the 49ers were facing 3rd-and-3, Clark made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone leading the 49ers to a victory. What do the letters D and E above the staff represent here? The 49ers coach, Bill Walsh, assumed that it was a throw-away play and immediately began planning for the fourth down until he heard the cheers from the crowd. text: small businesses, big impact: ensuring small and minority-owned businesses share in the economic recovery 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. However, the Cowboys soon returned the favor with Danny White's interception to linebacker Bobby Leopold, and this time the 49ers converted, regaining the lead at 2117 with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Johnny Davis. Dwight Clark, a receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, is best known for making what is now seen as one of the most iconic catches during the 1981 NFC Championship. Dwight Clark and Joe Montana. Thats because Clark was never a featured receiver at Clemson. San Francisco wide receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone to complete a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Montana, enabling the 49ers to defeat the Cowboys, 2827. "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. Clark spent the entirety of his nine-year career with the 49ers, ranking third and fourth in franchise history in receiving yards (6,750) and receptions (506), respectively. [5] He served as the general manager of the 49ers from 1995 to 1998 and in the same capacity with the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2001. An All-Pro and two-time Super Bowl champion, Clark was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, in March of 2017. I'd never heard the name. Here are five things you might not know about the teams, the players, the game and, yes, The Catch, from the pages of The Sporting News: TSN ARCHIVES: Swing right option dooms Dallas. The 350-pound statues of Dwight Clark and Joe Montana will be placed exactly 23 yards apart, just as the two 49ers were during the famous play. How does singing volume affect vocal range? . Another photographer, Lee Romero, suggested Storey crop the photo vertically. Guys would take my job. It is highly recommended that you use the latest versions of a supported browser in order to receive an optimal viewing experience. Clark already had plans to play a round of golf and was about to head out to begin his game when he picked up the phone instead. With the ball in 49ers territory after a long pass to Drew Pearson, Danny White was sacked by Lawrence Pillers and fumbled. [8] Clark's catch was a popular photo location among Clemson Tigers fans during their 4416 win over Alabama in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship held at Levi's Stadium. 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.With 58 seconds left in the game, the 49ers faced 3rd down and 3 yards to gain on the Cowboys' 6-yard line. Storey quickly whirled to follow the pass - he didn't change cameras, given the distance - and snapped away as the ball settled into Clark's hands. The Catch symbolized the end of the Cowboys' domination in the NFC since the conference's inception in 1970, and the beginning of the 49ers' rise as an NFL dynasty in the 1980s. The play saw Joe Montana find Dwight Clark for the game-winning touchdown in the NFC Championship Game played at Candlestick. Dallas managed to pick up a few first downs, but were forced to punt, and White's kick gave San Francisco the ball at their own 11 with 4:54 left in the game and three timeouts. But the lingering image quickly became The Catch, partly because of Storey's shot and another famous photo by Sports Illustrated's Walter Iooss Jr. (which ran on the magazine's cover). He left in 1998 to become the general manager of the expansion era Cleveland Browns. The fact that Clark got drafted, much less made it on the roster of an NFL team came as a surprise to many. My sister, like half the people in the Roseville-Rocklin-Lincoln area, were infatuated with the 49ers. The Cowboys managed to make the playoffs in the 1983 and 1985 seasons, only to be knocked out in their first game (Wild Card round in 1983; Divisional round in 1985), then failed to reach the postseason for the rest of the decade. Welcome to 2023 Chamber Chatter. Jan. 8, 2022 Updated: Jan. 8, 2022 6:04 p.m. 5. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. In 2018, he was inducted into the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame. In the Sports Illustrated article, Montana explained that he never saw The Catch, since he had just been knocked to the ground by Jones, but "I saw Dwight's feet touch the ground. After a tipped pass that turned into a 65-yard touchdown from tight end Raymond Chester, the Raiders took a 28-7 lead. Making matters worse, the pass rush of the Cowboys collapsed the 49ers' offensive line. Is there a vocal technique used here? This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. The Catch. In 2019, in celebration of the NFL's 100th season, NFL Films ranked The Catch second on its list of the 100 Greatest Plays.[9]. But I certainly suspect it did. All stats courtesy ofPro Football Reference. In 2016, Kroichick and photographer Michael Macor earned "Best Sports Feature" from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, for their series on Antioch High running back Najee Harris, the nation's No. [26], Clark was the lead role in the 1993 direct-to-video comedy Kindergarten Ninja. [1][2] He was a member of San Francisco's first two Super Bowl championship teams. I just dont think I would change anything.? Since Clark was lined up near Solomon, he was supposed to position himself to get in the way of Solomon's defender (known as a "pick" or "rub" play), and then release and head for the end zone on his own pattern, providing Montana with a second option. 49ers icon Dwight Clark passed away Monday at age 61 after battling ALS. However, Clark leaped as high as he could only to get his fingertips on the ball. That would be Renaldo Snipes, who in November 1981 gave Holmes a surprisingly tough bout in Pittsburgh, including, by one account, a perfectly timed overhand right (that) connected cleanly with Holmes chin and caused the champions legs to fold up like a defective lawn chair collapsing under an unsuspecting party guest.. In fact, beginning in 1986, the Cowboys went on to suffer losing seasons for the remainder of the eighties, leading to head coach Tom Landry being fired by new owner Jerry Jones after the 1988 season. How to decide between clavinova models from different years? And now we come to a catch that truly changed the game of football forever. I would like to start off the new year by introducing the board of directors to you. His statue sits in front of a stadium he helped build, two decades before he even knew he could, and baby boomers and millennials share what interest they have in this football team because of him. How does a lady pick up a car when it's on top of her baby? NFL.com keeps you up to date with all of the latest league news from around the NFL. In 2002, the NFL ran a series of advertisements promoting the playoffs, using famous plays as a uniting theme. Montana was was running out of room on the sideline. After a 15-yard illegal block penalty on Clark, Montana lost a fumble while being sacked by Harvey Martin. He's also The Chronicle's golf columnist, covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and all major championships in Northern California. "We extend our condolences and prayers to Dwight's wife, Kelly, his family, friends and fans, as we join together to mourn the death of one the most beloved figures in 49ers history. It was just a great life. He returned to the Examiner office, processed his film, scanned the negatives - and, yes, he had a clear and dramatic shot of Clark snatching the ball out of the air. "[28], Clark dated Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly from 1978 to 1982. Except this time Montana, sprinting right, away from dominant Cowboys pass rusher Harvey Martin, faced a decision. [34][35] At the time of his death, Clark lived in Whitefish, Montana, with his wife Kelly. To his credit, when he did catch the ball, he made it count and averaged 18.8 yards per catch. Florida's Anthony Richardson, one of the draft's most intriguing QB prospects, told reporters on Friday that in high school he modeled his game after two notable passers: Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson. The Niners unveil The Catch statue outside of Levis Stadium in memory of Dwight Clark ? Clark, while discussing The Catch in America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions documentary about the 1981 49ers, said: It's humbling, really. Tallie Harmon~Vice President, Monse Gallegos~Secretary, Abbie Campbell~Treasurer, Ashly Melgosa, Joe Zapata, ShawnaRae Falconburg, TaNisha Graham, Joe McCaleb, Hillary . On radio, it was Jack Buck and Pat Summerall doing the play-by-play and color respectively. The Dallas Cowboys defensive back will keep gliding with Clark across the back of the Candlestick Park end zone only to wind up with the worst view in the house. The drive began with an incomplete pass to Lenvil Elliot. The Cowboys did have a last chance for victory. Clark's got a touchdown! Its the hamster wheel of life -- you go as fast as you can and realize at the end youre right where you began, and your kids get their own wheel and their own history. 6-foot-46-foot-4 Clark leapt up and caught the ball inbounds for a 28-27 victory.