Dwight Clark
3/28/2023 | 1m 35sVideo has Closed Captions
Dwight Clark's famous catch propelled the San Francisco 49ers to their first Super Bowl.
Dwight Clark from Kinston, a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, is known for making “The Catch” that beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1982 NFC Championship game.
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The Uncommon Story: Notable North Carolinians is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
This series was produced with support from the NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.
Dwight Clark
3/28/2023 | 1m 35sVideo has Closed Captions
Dwight Clark from Kinston, a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, is known for making “The Catch” that beat the Dallas Cowboys in the 1982 NFC Championship game.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] In 1982, Kingston native Dwight Clark scored a touchdown so iconic it's simply known as the catch, but if it wasn't for being in the right place at the right time, it might never have happened.
After playing quarterback at Charlotte's Garinger High School, Dwight spent four unspectacular years as a safety and then receiver at Clemson - [Announcer] Over the middle, and it's incomplete.
Pass intended for Dwight Clark.
- [Narrator] If my football future had been decided by what I did in college, I'd be working at Wendy's now, Dwight remarked, but he got lucky.
The San Francisco 49ers head coach came to check out Dwight's roommate, but instead chose Dwight as a 10th round draft pick.
Still a long shot to make the team, he became practice partner and best pal to fellow rookie quarterback Joe Montana and well, the rest is history.
The catch called the Second Greatest play in pro football history by NFL Films happened on January 10th, 1982 in the NFC Championship game against the Dallas Cowboys.
With San Francisco down by six and less than a minute in the game Clark the leaped high above the Dallas Defense to pull in Montana's Pass just inside the end zone.
Dwight's team wins the NFC Championship and a few weeks later they win the Super Bowl.
As Dwight said, if not for being in the right place at the right time, the catch might never have happened.
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The Uncommon Story: Notable North Carolinians is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
This series was produced with support from the NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.