The name Don Klein may not be familiar to many San Francisco 49ers fans, but one of the many plays he called on the radio might be: The Catch. The Bay Area sportscaster died Wednesday at the age of 95.
Before the 49ers, Klein did the play-by-play for Stanford football and men’s basketball. He later joined the 49ers as their sportscaster and got to call the 1981 Championship Game where the 49ers’ split right option was immortalized as the catch once Dwight Clark got his hands on a Joe Montana pass.
Most replays will have Vin Scully’s voice as the play-by-play since he was doing TV at the time, but Klein’s call was just as important.