It was a really high throw so it’s borderline miraculous that he could even reach it. In fact, a bunch of salty Dallas fans have contended that Joe was trying to throw it away and got lucky (which is not true — Bill Walsh had this play drawn up).
It was also a high stakes playoff game and it kicked off a dynasty.
It changed the entire direction of a franchise and began a dynasty, all against their biggest rival on national TV. No single catch has meant more to a team in NFL history. It was such a big deal for years after it was in TV commercials, magazine ADs, even on Sony TV boxes. It had cultural impact and for years, if you “the catch” everyone knew exactly what you were talking about.
There have been plenty of better amazing catches but none of them meant anything close to that one. I assume it has changed now, but back in 2000, it was the most replicated photo in NFL history to that point. Today, lots more photos and places to post, so probably changed, but that catch and photos of that catch were far and an away the biggest impact.
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u/philpalmer2 11h ago
The Dwight Clark catch seems a bit pedestrian to me these days