SAN FRANCISCO — Before Dwight Clark died this spring, while he was still well enough to barbecue in the backyard of his Capitola home, he asked Joe Montana — his 49ers teammate with whom he would forever be linked — to speak at his funeral.
“My first reaction was to just smack him as hard as I could,” Montana said, “but when I looked at him in the eyes, I could tell he was serious. Of course, I graciously accepted.”
On Wednesday, the Hall of Fame quarterback stood at the lectern at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and looked out at their former teammates, coaches and staff — all graying or balding now — who were part of the 49ers’ legendary run of championships in the 1980s, a legacy that began with “The Catch” in 1981 that won the NFC championship against the Dallas Cowboys.