RIP Dwight Clark.
The man who made “The Catch” in the back of the end zone, somehow soaring high above two defenders to reel in the pass from Joe Montana in the 1981 NFC Championship Game, has passed away after complications with ALS.
John Elway, who lost to Clark’s San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIV two years after the great tight end retired, sent out his thoughts today on Twitter.
RIP Dwight!! You left the NFL and the world a better place!!
— John Elway (@johnelway) June 5, 2018
Clark, 61, passed away on Monday, June 4. Clark announced he was diagnosed with ALS — also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — in March of 2017. In February of this year, NBC wrote that Clark held fast that his playing NFL football led to his ALS.
“I’m not a scientist or a doctor, but I don’t know how it could not have some effect with all these guys who have it,” Clark said in the piece. “And the league recognizes ALS, Alzheimer’s, dementia and Parkinson’s as diseases that they pay immediately.”
Clark played nine years for the 49ers, from 1979-87, recording 506 catches for 6,750 yards and 48 touchdowns. “The Catch” still goes down as the most iconic play in 49ers history, pushing the Niners to their first ever Super Bowl appearance and win.