San Francisco 49ers: Breaking down the 20 biggest moments of the decade

No. 8: The Dwight Clark tribute

One of the most popular 49ers ever to pull on the San Francisco jersey, wide receiver Dwight Clark was not long for the world when San Francisco paid tribute to him on Oct. 22, 2017.

Battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Clark made the trip for “Dwight Clark Day.”

Clark was in a wheelchair, but he spoke strongly. He thanked the crowd and asked for their thoughts and prayers for the condition that he was revealed to be fighting only that year. He thanked the crowd, he thanked his former teammates, he thanked former owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr.

Clark wanted only one thing from the 49ers, a reunion of his teammates one last time.

Thirty-seven members of the 49ers’ 1981 team, the first of many Super Bowls, attended that day. It was the team that launched a dynasty.

It’s still hard not to tear up a little at the video. Clark was as special a person as they come, and his sticky fingers at the back of the Candlestick Park end zone in one fateful NFC Championship game launched a special dynasty.

Clark passed away less than a year later on June 4. A statue of the catch that launched a dynasty has been unveiled in his honor.

A fitting monument for the icon that caught his way into our hearts.

You can read my tribute to Clark here.