Sunday February 23, 2014
There are moments when sports goes beyond winning and losing and has a huge emotional impact. For me, one of the most memorable of such moments occurred on January 3, 1999, in the NFL wildcard playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers. The moment I’m referring to is what is now referred to as “The Catch 2,” when 49er quarterback Steve Young threw a game-winning touchdown to receiver Terrell Owens.
After making the catch, Owens lie down in the field, swept up in emotion, as his teammates surrounded him to celebrate. Walking off the field to the sideline, Owens was in tears. He hugged teammates and coaches with one arm as he clutched the ball in his other hand, almost as if he hadn’t believed he had caught it.
Earlier in the game, Owens had dropped three balls. As an up and coming star at the time, he wasn’t supposed to drop three balls. And as the clock was winding down, it was looking like Owens’ drops would go down in history as a huge reason why the 49ers lost that game. There was no reason to believe that Young would go to him with the game on the line. Not with the legendary Jerry Rice on the field.
But Young did go to Owens. Stumbling as he backpedaled into the pocket, Young righted himself before throwing a perfect strike through four Green Bay defenders. Owens caught the ball in the end zone, took two big hits from Green Bay defensive backs, and held onto the ball.
The thing about it is, we now know Owens as a petulant diva who would later go on to trash his own teammates, particularly quarterbacks Jeff Garcia (with the 49ers) and Donovan McNabb (with the Philadelphia Eagles), and who publically ranted and acted the fool when Philly wouldn’t renegotiate his contract after his stellar 2004 season in which he helped lead Philly to a Super Bowl berth.
But in that shining moment on January 3, 1999, T.O.’s emotions were real. He had gotten a chance at redemption that he didn’t think he would get, and he had come through.
What makes it even crazier is that this magical moment never would’ve happened had instant replay been in effect at the time, as, earlier in the game-winning drive, Rice had clearly fumbled a caught pass but the officials missed it. What a crazy, dramatic game, as two of the greatest quarterbacks ever –Young and Brett Favre, dueled on the game’s last two drives.
The YouTube link below has footage of the game-winning catch and T.O.’s emotional reaction. Fast forward to 7:55 for the catch.
