There was so much rain the week before the 1981 NFC Championship Game that the 49ers were forced to flee to Southern California.
Instead of practicing at their own headquarters in Redwood City, Bill Walsh and his team prepared for the Dallas Cowboys at the Rams practice facility, a converted elementary school in Anaheim.
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Sam Wyche, then 37, was a rookie assistant that year with the title of quarterbacks coach/director of the passing game. By that point in the season, he and the team’s tall, third-year receiver, Dwight Clark, had developed a Thursday practice ritual in which Wyche would throw Clark 40 or 50 passes — “Usually knuckleballs from 10 yards out,” Wyche said — while also rehearsing a single play, a different one each week, they figured might be used in the upcoming game.
The one they chose to concentrate on that Thursday in Anaheim: Sprint Right Option.
It was a red-zone concept designed to go not to Clark but to fellow receiver Freddie Solomon, who lined up inside of him on the play. Clark was Plan B in case Solomon wasn’t open, but his instructions were precise.
Clark was to release to the outside, get three yards from the end line of the end zone and then cut left. He was to run to the goal post — not a step past it — before turning around and running back the other way along the end line.
“Turn back with your head and eyes toward the quarterback,” Wyche recalled in a phone interview with The Athletic. “Don’t turn your back on the quarterback when you turn around. Instead, snap your left shoulder around.”
Finally, Clark was to keep two yards between him and the end line, which would give him enough space to come down in bounds if the pass, as it was designed, was one he had to leap to catch.
“We probably threw it five or six times that day,” Wyche said. “We went over all of the coaching points: ‘Go all the way to the goal post. Nope, you only went to the first upright. This is a timing thing. You are not going to be the primary receiver.’ And the last couple he ran were just perfect. And we walked off the field feeling pretty good about that play. And sure enough, it turned out to be the one.”
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The 49ers ran Sprint Right Option on third down from the 6-yard line the following Sunday while trailing 27-21 with 58 seconds left in the game. Solomon wasn’t open, which meant quarterback Joe Montana was supposed to drift back and to his right to give Clark time to complete the route. Montana drifted and drifted and finally released the ball.
The result was the most iconic play in 49ers history, a catch that helped send the franchise to its first Super Bowl and one that, starting Sunday, will be immortalized by statues in front of Levi’s Stadium. Clark died last June at 61 after a battle with ALS.
The work depicts Clark leaping in the air, arms stretched and body straining as the ball enters his grasp. A statue of Montana is 23 yards away, just as he was on Jan. 10, 1982. His arms are raised high in celebration, which is a bit of artistic license.
Montana had to loft his throw over Cowboys left defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones, and as soon as it was launched he was shoved by another lineman, Larry Bethea. When his pass arrived and Clark soared above Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls, Montana was sprawled on the sideline.
What were some other perspectives at the moment Clark came down with the football? Here are the recent recollections of The Catch from those who were in Candlestick Park that January afternoon.
Sam Wyche: I’m yelling, “Buy time, Joe! Buy time!” Because I saw that Freddie wasn’t going to be the guy. He did. He bought as much time as he could and then he dropped it over the outstretched arms of Jones. And, of course, the ball comes down, Dwight times the jump and comes down in bounds. And when he came down in bounds the place went berserk. I mean, it exploded.
Ed “Too Tall” Jones: When I saw him — the way he released it — I thought he was throwing it away. And I thought it hung on him. I thought because he was scrambling like he was and the way he threw it off his foot, I thought he was throwing it away and it hung and it just happened to be in the direction of the one guy who could go up and get it, who was Dwight Clark.
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Right guard Randy Cross: As he throws it, I’m looking basically right down that sideline and all I saw from my angle — there were players between me and where the ball was going — and all I saw was Dwight come up out of the ground and snatch that thing out of the air. After playing that offseason basketball, that charity basketball, I knew he could jump. DC had some good hops. He could stand under a basket and jump straight up and jam it.
Side judge Dean Look: My thought was, “Gee, that ball is awfully high.” And, by golly, he had a great leap. And he grabbed that thing. And then I had the issue of making sure he had two feet in bounds when he came down. And he did.
Wyche had had a bird’s-eye view of the play from the coaches booth, where he was seated next to George Seifert, the team’s defensive backs coach at the time.
Wyche: When I saw the official’s arms go up, I kind of leaned forward and my feet kind of slip. They don’t go flying out from under me or anything. They just slip a little bit. And I’ve got a monitor in front of me. They were big monitors; they weren’t flat screens. And I kind of bumped the monitor. So I grabbed the monitor because if I knocked it off, I’d knock it down into the stands and somebody would get hurt. And I think — and I can’t verify this — but my recollection is that George kind of grabs the back of my pants, my belt. I don’t think I was going out of the booth, but it probably looked like I might have.
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Ray Ratto, the longtime Bay Area journalist, was working for the Peninsula Times Tribune then and situated himself just behind the north end zone mere feet from where Clark landed.
Ratto: I just took a calculated gamble that, you know, Montana is right-handed, he’s more likely to go to his right because it would be an easier throw, and we’ll see what happens. Because I could just as easily have been wrong. So I just guessed that the best vantage point for me would be toward the right side of the end zone. So that’s where I went. … The image in my head is of Everson Walls basically yelling, “Fuck!” I see the catch and I immediately look to see, “OK, well, who was closest to him?” Because that’s going to be something I’ll need to know. And it’s Walls. And it had just dawned on him that Clark had leaped into the air and basically stolen their trip to the Super Bowl. And I just looked at him. And I never heard him say this, but I saw him mouth the word.
Eddie DeBartolo, the 49ers owner, had come down to field level from his suite but was in the south end zone, the one opposite the Catch.
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DeBartolo at his Hall of Fame induction speech, August 2016: I was behind the biggest horse you could ever imagine, with the police officer on him about 12 feet above me. I heard the screams of the crowd and looked up to the officer. He put his thumbs up and winked and said, “Clark, touchdown.” That’s how I found out. At our moment of glory, I was literally blocked by a horse’s ass.
Fullback Earl Cooper: I was on the ground. At a certain angle, it appears that I was sitting there cooling, that I was on the beach. But I saw it. The ball was in the air, and when I saw Dwight go up — Dwight was the type, if he got his hands on it he was going to catch it. I was on the ground when he caught it, but I must have been the first one to him when he came down. I hate to use the word “surreal.” Maybe a lot of people have used that already. But it was such an awe and a shock that we were going to a Super Bowl.
Kicker Ray Wersching: I was a spectator. Because of the differential, we had to score a touchdown. A field goal didn’t help. So there was no pressure on me. I was on the sideline next to Bill and I was listening to the plays he was calling. And I’m going, “OK, OK, OK.” And the drive keeps going and going and going. And I was enjoying myself and I’m going, “Damn, this is nice.” Then Dwight and Joe made one unbelievable play. It was history. The Catch occurred and then all of a sudden I’m going, “Oh crap! We’re only tied. I’ve got to go kick the extra point!'” Then it really kicked in: ‘”Uh-oh. Get your wits together and go do it. Because you better do it.”
Linebacker Keena Turner: I was on the furthest end away from that (north) end zone. Because that’s where our part of the bench was. Like everyone else, I was on the field, on the edge of it at least, and there was just anticipation. And that anticipation was huge. The play seemed like it took forever, right? As it developed and Joe ended up rolling and I didn’t know if he was going to get sacked. Too Tall and those guys were in his face. The ball went up, and when I followed the ball Dwight seemed to kind of come out of nowhere. And then — everybody knows the outcome. But here’s what I will say: Once he caught it and once we kicked, I was like, “OK, we’ve got to go stop them.” Emotionally, I couldn’t enjoy it all. For us, it’s like, “OK, we’ve got to go end this game.”
Linebacker Craig Puki: I was standing next to Hacksaw (Reynolds). And Hacksaw being the grumpy, old guy he is, he’s like, “We’ll never win this game. We’ve got six turnovers. We can’t win a game if we’ve got six turnovers.”
Defensive lineman Jim Stuckey: Joe kept looking and looking. And I saw him throw the ball and all of a sudden I see Dwight catch it and I said, “Oh, shit! I can’t believe this! Touchdown!” What an exhilarating feeling. I knew at the time I was watching a great drive and that I’m playing in the most exciting game I’ve ever played in. And then I remember looking up and thinking, “Oh my gosh. They’ve got plenty of time left.”
The Cowboys took over with 51 seconds left at their own 25-yard line. On first down, receiver Drew Pearson caught a pass over the middle, forcing cornerback Eric Wright to make a game-saving tackle at San Francisco’s 44-yard line with 38 seconds remaining.
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Stuckey: If Eric hadn’t chased Drew Pearson down and grabbed him by the collar of his shoulder pads, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation and there wouldn’t be an unveiling of The Catch.
Puki: Eric Wright saved us, saved a big play.
On the following snap, Stuckey and fellow defensive lineman Lawrence Pillers ran a stunt. Pillers sacked quarterback Danny White, dislodged the ball and Stuckey fell on it.
Stuckey: I remember Lawrence shooting that gap and I remember watching him hit Danny White’s hand. And the ball came out. And I was kind of tied up on somebody. And I was looking at that ball on the ground. It seemed like it was forever. Luckily I was able to get to the ball and recover the fumble. And I remember Lawrence Pillers yelling at me, “We’re going to the Super Bowl! We’re going to the Super Bowl! We’re going to the Super Bowl!”
(Top photo: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)