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The Rewind: Remembering 'The Catch' 35 years later
Dwight Clark becomes a football legend with a spectacular catch and game-winning touchdown over Everson Walls of the Dallas Cowboys.  Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

The Rewind: Remembering 'The Catch' 35 years later

Welcome to The Rewind, where we dig through tapes, YouTube videos and streaming services and revisit some of the most interesting games in history. 

There is something special about revisiting a favorite movie, a favorite show no longer on the air, or even just pulling out an album and giving it a spin the whole way through for the first time in a long while. Inevitably you pick up on the things you missed the first time around; a quiet moment in a song, a piece of scenery falling in the background, a joke that flew by you before – or maybe you just want to laugh at a joke you've already laughed at a hundred times before. 

Why don't we do the same with sports? We do in a way, highlight reels, maybe we have a DVD of the time our favorite team won a championship. But sitting through an entire game the whole way through when you know the final score? Frankly, that's the good stuff. Watching an entire game plan develop, figuring out which changes to the rules over the years would have resulted in a different outcome, seeing green rookies before they're superstars. 

Up first, the 1981-1982 season NFC Championship game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers; better known as "The Catch" game which is available in its entirety on YouTube. The Niners winning over the Cowboys signaled a change in direction for both clubs; one on the rise and one that would from their slip from their 1970s heights for the next decade.

After the win, San Francisco head coach Bill Walsh was quoted in The New York Times, saying, "Joe [Montana] is the quarterback of the future. He's got a fine arm and he's got the quickness of feet that Joe Namath had.''

Oh, did we mention that Vin Scully calls this game? Vin Scully and Hank Stram guide you through one of the most iconic football moments of all time without Telestraters, with limited replay abilities, without every touchdown being reviewed. 

Did we mention the crowd shots? You're going to want to watch for the crowd shots. Enjoy. 


YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

The only thing most people know about the 1981 NFC Championship game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers is The Catch. 

Certainly there have been better catches, so why does this one get that moniker? Let's go back and look at the game as a whole and revisit the events that led up to one of the most memorable plays in postseason history.

Freddie Solomon touchdown – 11:24 


A preview of the play that would win the game came early in the contest.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

Foreshadowing of what was to come, Joe Montana and the Niners marched down the field and scored the first points of this game. While the legend of the play was certainly different, it was the exact same play call on which The Catch happened. The ball, on the six-yard line just like The Catch, featured Montana rolling out of the pocket to his right to make the pass to Freddie Solomon.   

Tony Hill TD – 26:08 mark


On the rewatching the footage now, you can't miss Hill stepping out of bounds.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

Oh, how times have changed. 

After the Cowboys recovered a Bill Ring fumble inside Niners territory, Danny White hit Tony Hill for a 26-yard touchdown, giving Dallas a 10-7 lead. Upon reviewing the game, however, Hill's catch should have been ruled an incompletion. Hill only got one foot in bounds when making the catch. Had instant replay been around then, the play surely would have been reviewed (it was a scoring play) and overturned. Not only did that not happen here, no one bats an eye that there was any controversy of this play. Maybe because the NFL did have the "force out" rule in effect back then that excused a receiver only getting one foot down if the defender pushes him out of bounds.

Hill would have a similar sideline play happen later in the 2nd quarter.

Dwight Clark touchdown, the first one – 46:07 mark


A catch, but not the catch.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

Finally we get to Clark's touchdown! Well, not that touchdown. Montana shows off his limited scramble ability to step on in the pocket and as defenders were grabbing him fired off a pass to a wide open Clark in the end zone. In fact, that throw and catch may be better than the actual "Catch."  Niners up, 14-10. 

Ronnie Lott's pass interference call that really wasn't PI – 52:35


If there had been a review, officials would have seen this was not pass interference.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

With Dallas trailing 14-10 and with the ball at midfield, White flung a deep ball to Drew Pearson that was picked off by future Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott near the end zone. Lott would return the ball to the 35-yard line and it looked as if the 49ers were in control of this one. However, the official threw a flag and called pass interference on Lott even though replays show that Lott did nothing wrong. Dallas was awarded the ball at the 12-yard line and Tony Dorsett would eventually punch it in to give the Cowboys a 17-14 lead.  


YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

By the way, for those of you who are too young to remember this actual game, during a crowd shot after the Lott interception that wasn't, there is footage of a fan with what looks like a cell phone to his ear. No, this isn't some time-traveling phenomenon that occurred. See, back then we would carry transistor radios to listen to the play-by-play of the game. No ear buds; no radio headphones. Nope, just the Radio Shack staple.  

Things got really sloppy as the first half wore down. The Cowboys fumbled away a punt, then Montana fumbled away the ball as he was sacked. After the half, Montana had a pass deflected and picked off by Randy White, then Danny White gave it right back to the Niners with his own interception off a deflection. There would end up being nine turnovers in this game, including six by San Francisco (Montana threw three interceptions).    

Cowboys receivers collide – 1:41:30


Dallas beats themselves in the end zone.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

San Francisco would finally capitalize on a Cowboys turnover by scoring on a Johnny Davis two-yard plunge and take a 21-17 lead. The Cowboys would strike back with a field goal at the beginning of the 4th quarter on a 22-yard field goal by Rafael Septien, though Dallas let a golden opportunity slip. On a third and three play at the San Fran 5-yard line, White's pass to Doug Cosbie went incomplete as Cosbie collided with running back Ron Springs just as the ball got to him.

Doug Cosbie touchdown – 1:48:37


YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

Cosbie would get his revenge. Everson Walls recovered yet another Niners fumble at midfield giving the Cowboys a golden opportunity to take the lead and they capitalized on it. With the ball on the San Francisco 21-yard line, Danny White rolled to his left and hit an open Cosbie near the goal line. Cosbie turned and dove into the end zone to give Dallas a 27-21 lead.

Walls would then come up with a huge play by picking off Montana (his third of the game) and Dallas could now salt away the game. Eventually the Cowboys would stall and White's punt pinned the 49ers at their own 11-yard line. Montana had to lead his team 83 yards with 4:54 remaining in the game and down six points.


Just when you think is about to sail out of the end zone, Clark comes in with the catch.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

The Catch - 2:10:00

The drive began with a heavy dose of Lenvil Elliott. Dropped pass by Elliott in the flat. Six-yard run up the gut. Eleven-yard run. Seven-yard run. Incomplete pass through the hands of Elliott in the flat. Mixed in there was a third down conversion to Solomon. The key play would be on a huge 3rd-and-3 when lineman Bruce Thornton lined up offsides, giving the Niners a 1st down. From there, Montana, Solomon and Clark took over.

Right after the two-minute warning, the Niners ran a reverse to Solomon, netting 14 yards and getting to the Cowboys' 35-yard line. On 1st down, Montana fired a pass to Clark at the sideline for 10 yards and another 1st down. A 13-yard pass to Solomon followed by a six-yard run by Elliott set up one of the NFL's greatest moments with just 58 seconds remaining.

As you remember, on the 49ers' first touchdown, Montana rolled right and found Solomon in the flat and the receiver galloped into the end zone. This was the same play but Solomon stumbled and was covered. Montana stalled as he continued to roll to the sideline, pumping his arm trying to find anything. As three Cowboys flew in the air to knock down the pass, Montana flung a pass that looked like it was to sail out of the back of the end zone. Except Clark was there, running with Montana and seemingly snatched the ball out of the sky. Two feet in. Spiked ball. 49ers lead 28-27.

What many people don't recall is that Dallas moved the ball pretty well in that final minute to set up for a field goal. One play was a key 31-yard reception by Drew Pearson that got the Cowboys to midfield despite being horse-collar tackled, which is illegal now. If play happened today, 15 yards would have been tacked on and the Cowboys would be sitting at the Niners' 30-yard line and definitely in field goal range. Just as Dallas had some hope, White was sacked by Lawrence Pillers, fumbled, and the ball recovered by San Francisco.  


Vin Scully and Hank Stram called "The Catch" for CBS Sports.  YouTube/NFL/CBS Sports

Rewatching the entire game 35 years later you will find that it holds up well, even by modern football standards. It's cool to hear a just-retired Vin Scully calling this one on CBS from back in the day when you heard in on broadcasts outside of Los Angeles. This was a close game throughout with some pretty famous players all over the field. Sure there were a ridiculous amount of turnovers, but these were two tough teams beating each other up at the end of a long season. 

Watching a game like this from my youth brings back old memories. There is no yellow first down marker drawn out, we had to wonder if it was a 1st down! Also, all stats and game info that consistently stays on your screen is nowhere to be found. The score, time, down and distance and scroll wasn't a thing back then; you actually had to wait to find out of the score if you just turned it on.  

One of the other interesting things of note was watching Cowboys quarterback Danny White punting. How many starting quarterbacks do you see as the starting punter? White punted in college and in the World Football League, which he began his professional career with the Memphis Southmen. When the WFL folded, the Cowboys signed White as their punter and to back up Roger Staubach. White would take over the starting gig when Staubach retired at the end of the 1979 season, yet kept his punting duties.

It also was a significant shift in the dominant players of the conference. In the early 1970s, the Cowboys and 49ers would meet three consecutive years in the playoffs, including playing in the 1970 and 1971 NFC Championship games. Dallas would win both those contests and go on to five Super Bowls during the decade and winning two championships. After losing to Dallas in the 1972 playoffs, the 49ers had a losing record in seven of the following eight seasons.

"The Catch" launched San Francisco into one of the best dynasties in NFL history. The Niners would win four of the next eight Super Bowls, ultimately finishing with five titles. Dallas would go on to lose the following year's NFC Championship game to Washington, marking their third consecutive year losing in that game. The Cowboys wouldn't win another playoff game in the 1980s and Tom Landry was fired after the 1988 season when Jerry Jones bought the franchise. Meanwhile, the Dallas would watch their hated rivals, Washington and New York, win five Super Bowls from 1982 to 1991.

Also, a 4-year-old boy named Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr. attended this game. Brady would go on to a nice NFL career, winning four Super Bowls of his own and is currently working on his fifth. 

That would pass Terry Bradshaw and Montana for best all-time.

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