- Programming note: Watch "Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure," a documentary chronicling the life of the legendary 49ers QB, exclusively on Peacock TV.
Joe Montana. Dwight Clark. The Catch. The legendary moment that changed the 49ers and San Francisco sports’ fortunes forever.
For Bill Walsh and Joe Montana especially, this began their trajectory as pristine icons who revolutionized the NFL.
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That’s why it’s so endearing (and entertaining) to see a more colorful side to them in the 1981 NFC Championship Game, with so much on the line in the blossoming rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys.
As shown in the clip above, Bill Walsh was fed up with the cockiness and lack of respect America’s team showed the 49ers in a team meeting unearthed in the Peacock docu-series “Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure” leading up to the game.
“This god damn Dallas team,” Walsh shared to the locker room. “They can’t keep their mouth shut, you know. They always like to make their god damn press releases out of Dallas how they’re going to kick somebody’s ass. And they’re at it again.”
And as this episode points out, the Cowboys destroyed the 49ers the previous season 59-14, with the upstart 49ers returning the favor in a revenge game at Candlestick Park earlier in the 1981 campaign 45-14.
San Francisco 49ers
RELATED: Dwight Clark's hilarious first interaction with Joe Montana
That set up the showdown forty years ago Monday with the Cowboys on Jan. 10, 1982. Of course, every 49ers fan knows how the game ended.
Joe Montana reveals a classic moment early to set the tone. Faking a sweep, Montana is face-to-face with defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones with no protection. With his underrated quickness, Montana sidesteps Jones and makes a perfect pass to Dwight Clark over the middle.
“I turned and said,” Montana reveals. “’Respect that mother f--ker.’”
Then, of course, despite three interceptions and a lost fumble, it was another throw to Clark that cemented Montana into NFL immortality: The Catch. (See more awesome behind-the-scenes background on "The Catch" in the Tweet below.)
Respect that mother f--ker indeed.