 Clark in 2015 | |||||||||
| No. 87 | |||||||||
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| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1957-01-08)January 8, 1957 Kinston, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | June 4, 2018(2018-06-04) (aged 61) Whitefish, Montana, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Garinger (Charlotte, North Carolina) | ||||||||
| College | Clemson (1975–1978) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1979: 10th round, 249th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Operations | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Executive profile atPro Football Reference | |||||||||
Dwight Edward Clark (January 8, 1957 – June 4, 2018) was an American professionalfootballwide receiver who played for theSan Francisco 49ers of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1979to 1987.[1][2] He was a member of San Francisco's first twoSuper Bowl championship teams.
He caught the winning touchdown pass thrown by quarterbackJoe Montana in theNFC Championship Game on January 10, 1982, against theDallas Cowboys.[3][4] The play, immortalized as "the Catch", propelled the 49ers to their first Super Bowl championship. Clark playedcollege football for theClemson Tigers and was selected by the 49ers in the tenth round of the1979 NFL draft.[5] He served as thegeneral manager of the 49ers from 1995 to 1998 and in the same capacity with theCleveland Browns from 1999 to 2001.
Clark was born on January 8, 1957, inKinston, North Carolina.[6] He graduated fromGaringer High School inCharlotte, North Carolina, where he playedquarterback.[7][8]
At 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), Clark's first love wasbasketball, but he accepted a scholarship to playcollege football atClemson University.[9][10]
As a freshman, Clark was moved towide receiver, because the team had recruited four otherquarterbacks. As a sophomore, he was named the starter atstrong safety, but he disliked the position and left school to go back to his hometown in Charlotte instead. Clark was unhappy and considered transferring to play basketball atAppalachian State University, until he was finally allowed to play offense.[11] After returning to the team, he was a backupwide receiver and finished with five receptions for 99 yards and a 19.8-yard average.
As a junior, Clark was named a starter at wide receiver and was part of the team that qualified Clemson to theGator Bowl, its first bowl game in 18 years. He was third on the team with 17 receptions for 265 yards and one touchdown.
In Clark's senior season in1978, the Tigers were11–1, won theGator Bowl overOhio State, and finished sixth in thefinal AP poll. He was second on the team with 11 receptions for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a career-high 68-yard touchdown catch against theUniversity of Maryland that helped the Tigers win the ACC Championship.
At Clemson, Clark wore #30, posting only 33 catches for 571 yards, three touchdowns and a 17.3-yard average (seventh in school history).[11] Unheralded as a collegian playing alongside wide receiverJerry Butler, Clark felt fortunate to get tothe NFL.[12]
In 1988, Clark was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was inducted into the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame.
TheSan Francisco 49ers selected Clark with the first pick of the tenth round (249th overall) of the1979 NFL draft, even though some people in the organization questioned the selection at the time, considering he was seen as anundrafted free agent.[13] New head coachBill Walsh had visited Clemson to scout quarterbackSteve Fuller, Clark's roommate. When the 49er contingent arrived on campus, Clark answered the phone by chance on his way out to play golf and was convinced to participate as Fuller's pass catcher at the workout, where Walsh was impressed with hisreceiving skills.[3][7][14]
The 49ers were2–14 in1978 and had the same record in1979.[15] But they soon greatly improved, winning the Super Bowl at the ends of the1981 and1984 seasons, and, starting in 1981, making the playoffs every year Clark was with them except1982.
Clark tallied 506 catches for 6,750 yards and 48 touchdowns, along with 50 rushing yards in his nine NFL seasons with the 49ers. He led the NFL in receptions (60) during the strike-shortened1982 season and made thePro Bowl twice, in1981 and1982.[16]Sports Illustrated writerPaul Zimmerman named Clark his Player of the Year for 1982.[17]
In the1981 NFC Championship game, on January 10, 1982, against theDallas Cowboys, the 49ers trailed27–21 with 58 seconds to play. On 3rd-and-3, Clark leaped and caught a 6-yard pass from quarterbackJoe Montana in the back of the end zone to tie the score, and Ray Wersching's extra-point kick advanced the 49ers toSuper Bowl XVI.[3][4] That play, one of the most famous in the history of the NFL, has been immortalized as "The Catch".[18] Clark finished the game with eight receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns.[19] During the 1981 season, Walsh had Montana practice that part of the play back in training camp. Montana said, "We'd never thrown the ball to Dwight on that play, at all."[20] In the early 1990s, Clark's catch had become the most requested clip in the archives ofNFL Films, which was charging up to $5,000 for its use.[11]
After nine seasons with the 49ers, Clark retired following the1987 season. He was a member of two Super Bowl-winning teams (XVI andXIX). To honor his contribution to 49ers, the clubretired his #87 in 1988.[21] He served as a team executive for the 49ers until 1998, when he resigned to become the first general manager in the expansion era of theCleveland Browns, after followingCarmen Policy who would run the team under the ownership ofAl Lerner. In their first draft in 1999, the Browns went for quarterbackTim Couch, deciding to reject the calls from the Saints that offered their entire array of draft picks in order to try and draftRicky Williams.[22] He was executive vice president and director of football operations from1999 to 2001.[23]
On May 14, 2002, he resigned from his position with the Browns after new head coachButch Davis requested the right to make personnel decisions.[24] In the 2018NFL Films documentaryDwight Clark: A Football Life, he was quoted as saying that it was probably a mistake to have accepted the position.[25] He would later return to North Carolina to run hisreal estate business.
Clark built his restaurant, Clark's By The Bay, the year he retired and decorated it with sports memorabilia including The Catch. Initially serving Cajun food, it later switched to prime rib and seafood.[26] Located in Redwood City, California, the restaurant was sold in 1993.[27]
Clark joined his 49er teammates Joe Montana,Ronnie Lott, andRiki Ellison in performing backup vocals onHuey Lewis and the News hit songs "Hip to Be Square" and "I Know What I Like" for the band'sFore! album.Huey Lewis later indicated he was impressed by Clark's singing abilities.[28] Clark later took the lead role in the 1993direct-to-video comedyKindergarten Ninja.[29] He also appeared in the video gameAll-Pro Football 2K8. He joinedComcast SportsNet Bay Area in 2011 as an analyst for49ers Postgame Live. Post-retirement, Clark expressed remorse about the end ofCandlestick Park, saying that "It was a dump [but] it was our dump, so we could talk bad about it, but we didn't want anybody else to talk bad about it."[30]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Fum | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Y/G | |||
| 1979 | SF | 16 | 3 | 18 | 232 | 12.9 | 30 | 0 | 14.5 | 0 |
| 1980 | SF | 16 | 12 | 82 | 991 | 12.1 | 71 | 8 | 61.9 | 2 |
| 1981 | SF | 16 | 16 | 85 | 1,105 | 13.0 | 78 | 4 | 69.1 | 0 |
| 1982 | SF | 9 | 8 | 60 | 913 | 15.2 | 51 | 5 | 101.4 | 1 |
| 1983 | SF | 16 | 13 | 70 | 840 | 12.0 | 46 | 8 | 52.5 | 0 |
| 1984 | SF | 16 | 14 | 52 | 880 | 16.9 | 80 | 6 | 55.0 | 0 |
| 1985 | SF | 16 | 14 | 54 | 705 | 13.1 | 49 | 10 | 44.1 | 0 |
| 1986 | SF | 16 | 14 | 61 | 794 | 13.0 | 45 | 2 | 49.6 | 0 |
| 1987 | SF | 13 | 3 | 24 | 290 | 12.1 | 40 | 5 | 22.3 | 1 |
| Career | 134 | 97 | 506 | 6,750 | 13.3 | 80 | 48 | 50.4 | 4 | |
Clark datedMiss UniverseShawn Weatherly from 1978 to 1982.
Clark met Ashley Stone in 1982; they married the following year.[32][33] He had three children with Stone: a daughter, Casey, and two sons, Riley and Mac.[16][34] They divorced in 2009.[35]Clark married Kelly Radzikowski in 2011.[20] They moved toSanta Cruz.[11]
On March 19, 2017, Clark announced that he had been diagnosed withamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.[36] He stated that he believed he developed ALS as a result of playing football; he suffered threeconcussions during his playing career.[37] "I've been asked if playing football caused this," Clark wrote. "I don't know for sure, but I certainly suspect it did, and I encourage theNational Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and the NFL to continue working together in their efforts to make the game of football safer, especially as it relates to head trauma."[18]
Clark died of the disease on June 4, 2018.[38][39] At the time of his death, Clark lived inWhitefish, Montana, with his wife Kelly.[40] He was the father-in-law of former NHL defensemanPeter Harrold.[41] Clark had a close friendship with former 49ers ownerEdward J. DeBartolo Jr.[2] DeBartolo sent Clark toJapan in 2017 to bring back a three-month supply of the drugRadicava before it became available in the United States.[20]
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| Artists | |
