Dwight Clark is Honored and Grateful on “87 Day”

On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers honored former Clemson football receiver Dwight Clark at halftime of their game against the Dallas Cowboys. 

Dwight Clark, 60, played for the Tigers from 1976-78 and the 49ers from 1979-87. The two-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time Super Bowl Champion was known as a possession receiver, but averaged over 13 yards on his 506 receptions. He also had career marks of 6,750 yards and 48 touchdowns.

Clark retired from the NFL in 1988, and from 1999-2002, he worked as an executive and GM for the 49ers.

He wore the number 87 throughout his career and on Sunday, fans and his former teammates wore the retired number on “87(Dwight Clark) Day” to celebrate his service to the franchise.

Having “87 Day” with the Dallas Cowboys at Levi Stadium was significant because of his memorable catch in the 1982 playoff win over the Cowboys. The 49ers won 28-27, when Clark caught a 6-yard pass from Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. Clark’s catch has been seen through the years by the young and old NFL fan, but it almost didn’t happen. Montana talked about the game winning play that catapulted the team to the eventual Super Bowl XVI 26-21 Championship win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Well the catch actually should have never happened because the play before, I missed Freddie Solomon. And he was wide open. I overthrew it like…and he was only five or six feet away from me, and I think I threw it like three feet over his head.”

Clark has ALS(Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a disease that causes the death of neurons which control voluntary muscles. He announced on March 19, 2017 via a letter on Twitter that he had the disease. Since that announcement, the disease has progressed quickly and the effects are noticeable by his appearance and speech. Clark is now in a wheelchair because of weakness in his extremities.

Montana gave a brief speech at halftime before introducing Clark to the estimated crowd of over 70,000. Clark spoke from the skybox and thanked the people who have been instrumental during his battle with ALS.

"….I just want to see my teammates and the 49ers heard that and flew all these players in, so I could see them one more time. I obviously want to thank my family. It’s been a tough year. They’ve been through a lot and of course, they supported me as a player. But now, they have to support in a different way. I want to thank my daughter, Casey, son Matt, and my brother Jeff and his family. I appreciate all the support that they have given me during these trying times."

He was also very complimentary of friend and former San Francisco owner, Ed Dabartolo Jr. Dabartolo Jr. went, as far as, helping Clark get medicine from Japan and Clark said, “But I could never, ever thank the Debartolo family enough and Eddie D. for what they did.” At the conclusion of his speech, the two friends, of nearly 40 years, shared an emotional embrace.

While he praised friends and family, both fanbases cheered to celebrate him and a moment that conjures up mixed emotions between them.

“The Catch” is loved by 49ers’ and definitely loathed by Cowboys’ fans. And the same can be said about how each felt personally about Clark.

For Clark, “87 Day” was a heartwarming trip down memory lane that he was able to share with the people that he loved. And what about the many Cowboys’ fans that “hated” him? Even with the Cowboys thumping the 49ers 40-10, they took to Twitter to express their feelings about Clark.

Photographer Walter Iooss said this about capturing Clark’s catch, “It’s lucky to have one moment in your life like that. How many people in football have a moment that even resembles that? Dwight Clark does.”

And now, I ask. How many people have had their own day and on that day, a past “hate” transformed into “respect and love”?

Dwight Clark did!!