'Catch you on the other side': 49ers legends say goodbye to Dwight Clark

SAN FRANCISCO - Before Dwight Clark died this spring, while he was still well enough to barbecue in the backyard of his Capitola home, he asked Joe Montana - his 49ers teammate with whom he would forever be linked - to speak at his funeral.

“My first reaction was to just smack him as hard as I could,” Montana said, “but when I looked at him in the eyes, I could tell he was serious. Of course, I graciously accepted.”

On Wednesday, the Hall of Fame quarterback stood at the lectern at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and looked out at the former teammates, coaches and staff - all graying or balding now - who were part of the 49ers’ legendary run of championships in the 1980s, a legacy that began with “The Catch” in 1981 that won the NFC championship against the Dallas Cowboys.

“The one thing he would always say to me: ‘You know, they don’t call it ‘The Throw,’?” Montana deadpanned, as laughter from some 200 people attending Clark’s memorial service rose up through the towering Gothic cathedral. “So I will say, ‘Yes, that’s true, my friend, and I will catch you on the other side. I love you and I miss you and it was a pleasure having you in my life.’?”

Perhaps no football player is more defined by a single play than Clark, who died June 4 at age 61 after a two-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that weakened every limb. But on Wednesday, many remembered him for much more than that: his Southern charm, his courage, his loyalty, his humility, his sense of humor.

“Dwight had every gift but enough years on this earth,” Eddie DeBartolo, the 49ers team owner during the glory years, told the crowd that filled the pews.

There were hugs and tears and laughs among this family of men on Wednesday - all who had? received personal invitations to the private service - including the great names of the era: Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Roger Craig.

Some of them, including Dan Audick and Charlie Young, remember every little detail about their contribution to “The Catch.” For them, it’s a badge of honor to have been on the field.

“I was in the drive that led to the catch,” said Audick, whose No. 61 jersey is visible in the famous photo of that moment as Clark pulls in the ball by the fingertips. “I remember the whole essence of the series of plays.”

In the midst of the service, everyone who had been part of the team was invited up to the front, and while “The Morning Trumpet” was sung by the Cathedral Choir, the line of players and coaches and executives extended nearly to the stained glass windows on each side.

There was also an acknowledgment of what the 49ers meant to San Francisco in the 1980s, when the city was in the midst of the AIDS epidemic and recovering from the tragedies of the People’s Temple mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, and the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

“We were in a real downer time. It was darkness and gloom,” said Frank Jordan, San Francisco’s mayor in the 1990s and former police chief, who had also come to pay his respects. “And all of a sudden came a team, we had something we could look up to. It gave us a burst of euphoria we hadn’t seen.”

With Clark’s catch, a leaping, fingertip clutch high in the end zone with 51 seconds left in the game, “everyone in San Francisco felt united, exhilarated and ?10 feet tall,” Jordan said.

Clark’s widow, Kelly, sat in the front row and other dignitaries filled in, including former general manager Carmen Policy, current 49ers CEO Jed York, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown and San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Some of the stories shared from the lectern - or in smaller gatherings outside - had the feel of a lively locker room. The players called Clark “Hercules” for his rugged good looks or “Tarzan” for his animated yells after games. They joked that he was a “Joe Namath wannabe” for wearing a coyote-fur coat during the first Super Bowl parade.

Montana, who was drafted in 1979 with Clark, said watching his ex-teammate “kind of dwindle away and become a shadow of himself” was painful. “I tried to make him laugh as much as I could,” Montana said.

During training camp one season, he remembered the two of them - as a prank - locking up all the players’ bikes with a giant chain. When Montana suffered a concussion during an away game and couldn’t return home immediately, Clark “asked if he could stay and make sure I was OK.”

“I think he found out we were staying at the Waldorf and staying in Mr. DeBartolo’s suite,” Montana added. “Maybe he was looking for a free meal.”

Perhaps the most emotional speech came from DeBartolo, who took a deep breath before he began. Famous for taking care of his players in sickness and in health, DeBartolo was 32 when he took over the 49ers. He asked Clark and Montana to consider him a big brother and call him Eddie, but “Dwight always insisted on calling me ‘Boss.’”

He told the story of negotiating the contracts of both players at his home in Youngstown, Ohio, without their agents.

Carmen Policy, who was the team president, “didn’t like the idea, but went along with it,” he said.

“That night, Dwight, Joe and I shot pool and drank Tequila - probably way more than we should have,” DeBartolo said. “Well, I got the deals done.”

At breakfast the next morning, DeBartolo told Policy he was paying Montana $1 million and Clark $500,000. When Policy asked, “What happened? All I could say was, ‘they won.’

“Then Carmen’s jaw dropped when he saw Dwight drive off to Carolina in my brand new silver Ferrari,” he said.

DeBartolo keeps a picture of “The Catch” at his Montana ranch. Montana signed it “Thanks a million” and Clark signed it “Thanks a half million.”

At the ranch, DeBartolo set up the actual Candlestick Park goal post that backdropped “The Catch.”

As Clark’s life neared its end, DeBartolo invited Clark’s closest teammates and friends to gather with him at the ranch and share memories. Clark wheeled himself out of the barn to the goal posts, where they gathered for a final photo.

His ashes are buried there now, several feet from the goal posts, about the location where he had made his infamous play. A headstone marks the spot with an inscription that reads, “The dynasty began with you.”

“I’m so thankful I have so many moments he left me to cherish,” DeBartolo said. “How many of us can say that our best moments were as magnificent as his?”

Although Clark “left all of us way too soon,” said DeBartolo, “I know that Dwight was ready to soar again. This time he touched the heavens.”