> The Catch: 25 years after the play that changed football
>
> http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/16457869.htm
>
> Posted on Sun, Jan. 14, 2007
> "THE CATCH"
> STORY BY RON GREEN JR.
>
> Only 58 seconds remained in the NFC Championship game that gray, chilly
> Sunday afternoon in San Francisco when Dwight Clark prepared to leap
> into history 25 years ago.
>
> The Dallas Cowboys, at the height of their vainglorious America's Team
> period, led the 49ers 27-21 but San Francisco had a third-and-3 at the
> Cowboys' 6 with neither team aware the foundation of professional
> football in this country was about to be rocked.
>
> For Clark, in his third season as a receiver with the 49ers, fatigue
> had come over him like a Bay Area fog. He had been sick with stomach
> flu earlier in the week, missing one day of practice, but he had
> managed to catch seven passes, one for a touchdown, thrown by his
> friend and quarterback Joe Montana.
>
> Two days earlier, Clark celebrated his 25th birthday on Jan. 8. Born in
> Kinston and raised in Charlotte, Clark was becoming an unexpected star,
> a two-time Pro Bowl player.
>
> He had been a good enough player at Garinger High to earn a football
> scholarship to Clemson, but he had wound up in the NFL because a pro
> scout, evaluating Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller, took notice of the
> tall, swift guy hauling in his passes that day.
>
> Symphony of offense
>
> Needing a touchdown and extra point to earn their first Super Bowl
> trip, the 49ers had marched crisply downfield as coach Bill Walsh
> maestroed the moment from the sideline while Montana, his legend coming
> to life, supplied the music.Montana had thrown three interceptions
> before the final drive began at the San Francisco 11, but with Lenvil
> Elliott running the ball and Sumter, S.C., native Freddie Solomon and
> Clark catching passes, the 49ers were at the edge of the Dallas end
> zone.
>
> On first down from the Dallas 13, Montana had thrown an incompletion to
> Solomon in the end zone. Weak from the flu, Clark jogged off the field
> before second down and took a knee on the sideline.
>
> "I was so tired," Clark said as the season ticked down to a precious
> few seconds.
>
> He watched a sweep to the right side gain 7 yards on second down. Hal
> Wyatt, the 49ers' trainer, stood in front of Clark and shot a stream of
> water into the receiver's mouth.
>
> "Come on, we have one more play and you're going to make it," Wyatt
> told Clark.
>
> A few feet away, Clark could hear Walsh talking about "sprint right
> option" on third down.
>
> Without asking anyone, Clark jogged back onto the field for third down.
> The air, damp and cold, felt electric.
>
> In the huddle, Montana barked, "Red left slot, sprint right option."
> That put the tight end on the left side and Solomon and Clark on the
> right side of the line of scrimmage. The same play had produced a
> touchdown pass to Solomon earlier in the game.
>
> Before breaking the huddle, Montana told Solomon, "I'm looking at you."
> Then he told Clark, "Be ready."
>
> The 49ers had run the play almost daily during preseason practice. The
> idea was for Clark, the secondary receiver, to run his route near
> enough to Solomon's that it, in essence, created a traffic jam among
> the defenders, allowing Solomon the instant he needed to get open.
>
> Clark had to be careful not to "pick" Solomon's defender (which would
> draw a penalty flag), just briefly get in his way.
>
> Play rarely worked
>
> Walsh had sometimes referred to the play as a "20-yard Hail Mary"
> because, if Solomon was covered, Montana would look for Clark, whose
> route took him inside first before he drifted laterally toward the
> right corner of the end zone. If forced to find Clark, Montana had two
> strict rules to follow -- throw it high enough so only Clark (6-foot-4)
> could reach it or throw it away.
>
> The play to Clark rarely worked in practice, however, because the
> passes tended to be either too low or too high.
>
> It would work this time.
>
> At the snap, Montana rolled to his right. Clark slowed down briefly to
> engage safety Dennis Thurman, who was defending Solomon. As Solomon
> made a move, however, he slipped, allowing Thurman to recover.
>
> As Montana continued rolling right, Ed `Too Tall' Jones and Larry
> Bethea closed on him. With 6-9 Jones and the sideline both rushing at
> him, Montana threw the ball off his back foot.
>
> "I knew it was high," Montana said recently. "I thought it was above
> (Clark's head). It's like when you throw paper in the trash can you
> kind of have an idea whether you're going to hit it long or short or
> make it."
>
> Montana hit the ground about the time Clark touched the sky.
>
> Dallas defensive back Everson Walls, who had intercepted two passes,
> was a step behind Clark, who saw the ball coming.
>
> "That's high," Clark thought to himself.
>
> That's what quarterback coach Sam Wyche thought, too. On the sideline,
> he'd begun to plan the fourth-down play, a run designed to get the 3
> yards needed for a season-saving first down.
>
> Then Clark -- as if he had wings -- came down with the ball.
>
> Touchdown.
>
> It was 27-27 and Ray Wersching's extra point with 51 seconds remaining
> would be the deciding point that ended the Dallas dynasty and anointed
> the NFL's new dynasty.
>
> On the sideline, 49ers equipment manager Chico Norton ran to Montana
> and yelled, "Your buddy saved your (butt) that time. He jumped out of
> the stadium."
>
> "Get out of here," Montana said. "He can't jump that high."
>
> But Clark had reached up and plucked a measure of immortality out of
> the January chill.
>
> "I don't know if I remember actually catching the ball or I've just
> seen it so many times now that it's etched into my brain," Clark said.
>
> "Running to the sideline, that's an unbelievable moment in your life.
> You've made a play for your teammates. That's why you play, to do
> something like that then run to the sideline to celebrate."
>
> Dallas threatened in the closing seconds but a fumble killed the
> Cowboys' chances. Two weeks later, the 49ers won the first of their
> four Super Bowls, beating Cincinnati.
>
> Exactly 25 years after making "The Catch" and two days after his 50th
> birthday, Clark sat in a coffee shop in south Charlotte remembering the
> day.
>
> Wearing jeans, an untucked blue-gray shirt and work boots, Clark --
> outgoing and gracious -- looked like he could still play.
>
> He and his wife, Ashley, have three children (Casey, 22; Riley, 21;
> and, Mac, 13) and have lived in south Charlotte for more than three
> years. He grew up in east Charlotte and, after having his time in San
> Francisco and, later, Cleveland, Clark said this is home. It's where he
> wants to stay.
>
> He worked as vice president of the 49ers and, later, the Cleveland
> Browns until 2003, when he was forced out of the game after the team
> went 2-14, 3-13 and 7-9. Clark misses the camaraderie of a football
> team but not the day-to-day business of football.
>
> He's settled in Charlotte
>
> He has a development/construction business with Joe Kloiber here and
> they specialize in custom homes and remodelings. Clark plays golf,
> watches his youngest son play sports and loves the life he has today.
>
> He talks to Montana eight or 10 times a year.
>
> Occasionally, Clark will attend an autograph show where he will smile
> and sign as many Sports Illustrated covers as people bring before him.
>
> It is an iconic photo, the one of him stretching his fingertips to the
> ball. He has several dozen copies of the magazine stored away.
>
> Clark kept the pads he wore Jan. 10, 1982 and the gold helmet.
>
> He also kept the ball he caught. It's in a box in a closet.
>
> There have been questions about whether Clark has the actual ball
> because a former 49ers employee sold what he claimed was the real ball
> for $50,000 a few years ago. Clark believes he has the authentic item.
>
> When the catch happened, Clark and his teammates realized they were
> going to the Super Bowl. None of them realized it was a moment that, in
> a sense, made football time stand still.
>
> "No matter where I go, people want talk about the play," Clark said,
> holding a half-finished cup of coffee. "Dads bring their kids to
> autograph shows and they'll tell them, `This is the guy that made `The
> Catch.'
>
> "I'm just amazed by the staying power of it all."
>
> There's a word for that.
>
> Timeless.