"The Catch"...?

Question

I am NOT a football fan,
but one of these guys
went to the same school
I went to. He was older
than me, and I had a
terrible crush on him,
throughout his career.

Without a bunch of
copy and paste stuff,
please tell me if you
know of this famous play,
and what it means to you.

Answer 1

Joe Montana scrambles right, then left, then right and finds Dwight Clark running along the back of the End Zone. Montana's pass was just high enough to clear defenders and just low enough for Clark to jump up and grab it. This pass stopped the Cowboys run of excellence and was the beginning of the what would be a fantastic niners run.

That's what I know.

Answer 2

It is such a famous play that even casual fans of the NFL ought to have seen it at some point. As I was rather young at the time, and my hometown team is in the other conference, I can't say that the play really means anything to me, but it was indeed a good catch. What is forgotten, though, is that the Cowboys got the ball after The Catch and nearly drove for the winning score before fumbling the ball back to the Niners.

Answer 3

I remember that game like it was yesterday. I grew up in the south, and hated Dallas, and of course all my friends loved them, so any chance at making them eat crow was just fine with me.

You could see the genius that was Bill Walsh being laid out like a Royal Flush during that game. What guts he had on that last drive, with maybe 5 minutes (or was it 4) left in the game, and he runs the ball down Dallas' throat, the last thing they were expecting from this new short-pass attack.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see The Catch live, I had to leave to be somewhere by 6pm, so I heard it on the radio. I did get to report the results to my friends who had to be at the same destination and therefore did not see it either.

That game, yes even The Catch had such an impact on the NFL from that point forward...it began the dominance of the 49ers for a generation, it helped transform Offensive Football in the NFL, and began one of the greatest out-of-division rivalries the league has ever seen.

Answer 4

It was devasting to us Cowboy fans. That single play shifted the balance of power to the 49er's from Dallas for the next decade. One little tidbit about the play.......Dwight Clark was not even the intended reciever on the play. He just made a great heads-up play. I still cringe when I see it replayed. How he was able to jump up and get that, I'll never know. I guess it was just meant to be.

Answer 5

All I know is that Joe Montana got all the props for that play when he threw the terrible pass!!! If it was such a good pass why don't they call it "THE PASS" ?

Answer 6

I'm probably the only person alive who has no clue...sorry!