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The Catch was the winning touchdown reception in the 1981 NFC Championship Game played between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on January 10, 1982, as part of the 1981–82 NFL playoffs following the 1981 NFL season. With 58 seconds left in the game and the 49ers facing 3rd-and-3, San Francisco tight end 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, 28–27. The Catch is widely regarded as one of the most memorable events in National Football League (NFL) history. It came at the end of a 14-play, 83-yard drive engineered by Montana. The game represented 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.

Game summary

After San Francisco forced Dallas to punt on the opening drive, quarterback Joe Montana completed a 17-yard pass to Charle Young and a 24-yarder to Lenvil Elliott before throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Freddie Solomon. Dallas responded with Danny White's 20-yard pass to Butch Johnson setting up a 44-yard field goal by Rafael Septién. 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 10–7.

In the second quarter, San Francisco reached the Cowboys' 27-yard line, only to lose the ball when Everson Walls intercepted a pass from Montana in the end zone. But after forcing a Dallas punt, Montana threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Clark to retake the lead, 14–10. Dallas responded with an 80-yard drive, including a controversial pass interference penalty on 49ers defensive back Ronnie Lott which nullified his interception and gave the Cowboys a 35-yard gain to the San Francisco 12-yard line. Three plays later, running back Tony Dorsett scored on a 5-yard rushing touchdown to give Dallas a 17–14 lead. The 49ers got another chance to score before halftime when they recovered a fumbled punt on the Dallas 42. But after a 15-yard illegal block penalty on Clark, Montana lost a fumble while being sacked by Harvey Martin. 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.

In the third quarter, San Francisco got another scoring opportunity when Dwight Hicks returned a punt 12 yards to midfield. 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. 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 21–17 with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Johnny Davis.

One minute into the fourth quarter, Septien kicked a 22-yard field goal that cut the scoring difference down to 1 point at 21–20. 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 27–21 advantage. Things got even better for Dallas when Walls recorded his second interception from Montana on the next drive at the Cowboys 27. 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.^[1]

49ers' final drive

Montana led the 49ers 83 yards to the Dallas 6-yard line with the following drive:^[2]

• 1st and 10 from the SF 11: Montana incomplete pass, dropped by Elliott


• 2nd and 10 from the SF 11: Elliott 6-yard run


• 3rd and 4 from the SF 17: Montana 6-yard pass to Solomon


• 1st and 10 from the SF 23: Elliott 11-yard run


• 1st and 10 from the SF 34: Elliott 7-yard run


• 2nd and 3 from the SF 41: Montana incomplete pass, through Elliott's hands


• 3rd and 3 from the SF 41: Offsides penalty on Cowboys, 5 yards


• 1st and 10 from the SF 46: Montana 5-yard pass to Earl Cooper (2 minute warning)


• 2nd and 5 from the Dallas 49: Solomon 14-yard run on a WR reverse


• 1st and 10 from the Dallas 35: Montana 10-yard pass to Clark


• 1st and 10 from the Dallas 25: Montana 13-yard pass to Solomon (49ers first timeout, 1:15 remaining)


• 1st and 10 from the Dallas 12: Montana incomplete pass, intended for Solomon in end zone


• 2nd and 10 from the Dallas 12: Elliott 6-yard run (49ers second timeout, 58 seconds remaining)

The play

Schematic of the action The Catch

Following the 49ers second timeout, they faced third and 3 yards to go on the Cowboys' 6-yard line with 58 seconds left in the game.

The 49ers lined up in a split backs formation, with Joe Montana under center. Wide receiver Freddie Solomon (the play's actual intended target) was lined up in the right slot, while Dwight Clark (who eventually caught the pass) was outside of Solomon, wide to the right.

When Montana took the snap, the play, known as Sprint Right Option, was intended to be a pick-play to set up a quick pass Solomon; earlier in the game, Solomon had scored a touchdown on that play.^[3] However, Solomon slipped while running his route, thus ruining the timing of the play (as Clark was no longer in position to set the pick). As such, the Cowboys were able to cover Solomon perfectly. Making matters worse, the pass rush of the Cowboys collapsed the 49ers' offensive line. Two of the Cowboys' defensive ends Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Larry Bethea and linebacker D. D. Lewis chased a backpedalling Montana toward the sideline, and seemed certain to either send him out of bounds or sack him. But at the last moment, and after a pump-fake to get 6-foot 9-inch "Too Tall" Jones to jump, Montana threw a high pass to the back of the end zone that seemed destined to sail out of bounds until 49ers receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping touchdown grab with his fingertips to tie the game with 51 seconds left. The ensuing extra point by kicker Ray Wersching gave the 49ers a 28–27 lead. Clark finished the game with 8 catches for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The play, remembered in 49er lore as "Change Left Slot – Sprint Right Option^[4]" had called for both Clark and the primary receiver, Solomon, to line up on the right. Montana was supposed to roll to his right and find Solomon. Clark's pattern called for him to cut left across the end zone, stop, and immediately reverse his path to the right. If Solomon was covered, it would be up to Montana to find Clark. Due to the pressure, Montana's pass was high, but Clark was in position to make his memorable grab.

A photograph of the catch by Walter Iooss, Jr., with Clark at the height of his leap and Everson Walls reaching out to try to block the ball, was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week.^[5]

Other contributors on the final 89-yard drive that led to the play now referred to as “The Catch” included Lenvil Elliott (RB), Earl Cooper (FB), Freddie Solomon (WR), Charle Young (TE), Dan Audick (LT), John Ayers (LG), Fred Quillan (C), Randy Cross (RG), and Keith Fahnhorst (RT).

Reactions

Some people claimed that Montana was trying to throw the ball away, leaving time for a fourth down. Clark disputes that assertion, claiming that it was a backup plan that they practiced many times. Montana confirmed that he could not see the end zone through the defenders, but claims that he knew exactly where Clark would be. 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.

As for the height of the catch, Montana has said that he didn't feel that he threw the ball very high. However, Clark leaped as high as he could only to get his fingertips on the ball. 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. I heard the crowd scream." Later, in the locker room, he expressed his amazement at how high Clark had jumped.

According to Clark, Jones reacted to the play by stating "You just beat America's Team" to Montana after the pass was caught, to which Montana replied to Jones, "Well, you can sit at home with the rest of America and watch the Super Bowl."^[6]

While Clark's touchdown (and Wersching's extra point) had given San Francisco the lead, the game was not yet over as there was still 51 seconds left on the clock, with Dallas needing only a field goal to win. After the ensuing kickoff, Dallas receiver Drew Pearson caught a long pass, but defensive back Eric Wright made a touchdown-saving horse collar-type tackle (then a legal tackle) to keep him from scoring. This play was known as "The Grab". On the next play, quarterback Danny White fumbled the ball while being sacked by Lawrence Pillers, and San Francisco’s Jim Stuckey recovered the ball, sealing victory for the 49ers.

The 49ers won 28–27 and went on to win Super Bowl XVI 26–21 over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Clark, while discussing The Catch in America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions documentary about the 1981 49ers, said:

Play calling

The Catch was immortalized by three dramatic broadcast play-by-play calls. Vin Scully described the play on CBS Television:

Meanwhile, Jack Buck had the call over on CBS Radio:

Finally, Don Klein called the play locally for the 49ers on KCBS:

Legacy and aftermath

This game was a watershed in the historic fortunes of both the 49ers and the Cowboys. The 49ers began the 1970s winning three consecutive NFC West titles (1970–1972), but spent the remainder of the decade as a losing team. San Francisco went on to win four Super Bowls in the 1980s, and made the playoffs eight out of the next ten seasons, making the 49ers a dynasty. 49ers quarterback Joe Montana went on to gain a reputation as a clutch performer.

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. In the following season, the Cowboys reached their third straight NFC Championship Game, where they were defeated 31–17 by their archrival Washington Redskins. This ended a remarkable period that saw the Cowboys play in 10 of 13 conference championship games, while starting quarterback Danny White drew criticism for "not being able to win the big game," which ultimately led to a quarterback controversy in 1984 between White and Gary Hogeboom. After their 31–17 loss to the Redskins, the Cowboys managed to make the playoffs in two of the next three seasons, only to be knocked out in the first round. They never made it to postseason for the rest of the decade. In fact, beginning in 1986, the Cowboys went on to suffer losing seasons for the remainder of the decade, including a dismal 1–15 season in 1989, which saw the debut of #1 draft pick quarterback Troy Aikman and first-year head coach Jimmy Johnson; it is the franchise's worst season since their inaugural 1960 season when they went 0–11–1. Despite the 1–15 record to close out the decade, the Cowboys' future became brighter when they went on to become a dynasty in their own right, winning three Super Bowls in the 1990s—two of them back-to-back, defeating the same opponent (Buffalo Bills).

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, a Bay Area native who ultimately grew up idolizing Montana on his way to his own successful NFL career, attended the game as a four-year-old, and aspired to become a Niner.^[7]

The Catch would spawn the naming of two other 49ers epic playoff comeback wins; the Catch II (1998-99 NFC Wildcard game in which Steve Young threw a 25-yard winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Terrell Owens to beat the Green Bay Packers with 8 seconds left in the game)^[8], and the Catch III (2011–12 NFC Divisional game in which Alex Smith threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis to beat the New Orleans Saints with 9 seconds left in the game)^[9]. All three "Catch" plays occurred with under a minute left in the 4th Quarter, and all came on 3rd down with 3 yards to go.

On October 21, 2018, the 49ers unveiled a statue outside Levi's Stadium depicting The Catch. 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.^[10]

In popular culture

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."

In the October 16, 2001 episode "My Old Lady" of the American television sitcom/medical drama Scrubs, when a dying patient David asks if anyone has ever heard of The Catch, Turk comes in and says, "Niners-Cowboys, Joe Montana to Dwight Clark deep in the end-zone, zero time left. Kid, please, don't insult me." Turk later joins David in watching the game.

In 2002, the NFL ran a series of advertisements promoting the playoffs, using famous plays as a uniting theme. Actor Don Cheadle demonstrated the height of Clark's catch by standing on a stepladder in the end zone.

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. Following the Gatorade logo, the real version was shown with Dwight Clark's completion. This is also done with Derek Jeter's "flip play" going wide of home plate and Michael Jordan's famous buzzer-beater against Cleveland going off the rim.

Clark and Montana re-enacted The Catch in observance of the 25th anniversary of the play as part of San Francisco alumni day activities at halftime of the Minnesota game November 5, 2006, at Candlestick Park.

On August 5, 2007, The Best Damn Sports Show Period did a special show commemorating the top 50 amazing sports catches of all time. The Catch is listed as #17.

Officials

• 
  Referee: Jim Tunney (#3)


• 
  Umpire: Bob Boylston (#5)


• 
  Head Linesman: Ed Marion (#6)


• 
  Line Judge: Bob Beeks (#16)


• 
  Field Judge: Ed Merrifield (#20)


• 
  Side Judge: Dean Look (#9)


• 
  Back Judge: Ray Douglas (#5)


• 
  Alternate Referee: Gordon McCarter
  


• 
  Alternate Umpire: Dave Moss

See also

• 1981–82 NFL playoffs


• Immaculate Reception


• The Helmet Catch


• The Catch (baseball)


• The Block (American Football)


• 
  Freezer Bowl, 1981 AFC Championship game held on the same day

References