TABLE OF CONTENTS The Catch 9 A Bay Area Beginning 17 Bill Walsh and Joe Cool 24 The Thrilling 90s 37 Fighting Back Up 43 GRIDIRON GREATS Leo the Lion 11 The Shotgun Blasts Off 15 The Gold Rush of 1976 19 Montana’s Magic 26 Cooking with Rice 32 Overcoming Obstacles 40 Team Stats 47 Websites 47 Index 48
The Catch by receiver Dwight Clark THE CATCH During the 1970s the San Francisco 49ers ranked among the worst teams in the National Football League NFL The 49ers finally turned things around in 1981 They won 13 games They made the playoffs for the first time in nine years San Francisco easily defeated the New York Giants in the divisional round Next the 49ers faced the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football Conference NFC Championship Game The winner would advance to Super Bowl XVI Dallas had dominated the NFC since 1970 It had appeared in five Super Bowls It had also crushed San Francisco 59 14 the previous season The 49ers returned the favor in 1981 with a 45 14 win Still many Dallas players suggested that the real Cowboys had not shown up to that game SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
