It’s cruel. It’s horrible. The hands that made the most famous catch in 49ers history — maybe the most famous catch in NFL history — are losing their feeling. The hands don’t work well enough to even reach up and grab a Nerf football.
It’s cruel. It’s horrible. Dwight Clark can no longer play golf or complete a basketball layup. Clark revealed Sunday night that he is suffering from ALS, the same disease that struck down Lou Gehrig and has darkly visited so many other athletes over the years. There is no cure for ALS. There is no way to stop it from switching off the function levers to someone’s own body, little by little, day by day.