NFL rewind: What If “The Catch” never happened?
What if The Catch never happened in the 1981 NFC Championship?
The NFL is filled with “what-if” moments in it’s long, illustrious history. Yet there is no more shape-shifting, league-changing moment like “The Catch.”
But what if “The Catch” never happened? We were fingertips and a failed fourth down conversion away from the iconic play never coming to be.
So let’s do this. January 10, 1982. Candlestick Park. Third down and four yards to go at the Dallas 6-yard line.
The 49ers still run “Sprint Right Option,” but this time Montana’s pass to Dwight Clark sails out of bounds and the 49ers are down to a crucial fourth down.
On fourth down, Joe Montana’s pass to Freddie Solomon is knocked out of the way and Dallas beats San Francisco to move on to Super Bowl XVI where they defeat the Cincinnati Bengals and win their third Super Bowl. The following season, the Cowboys end up winning Super Bowl in the strike-shortened season of 1982 and we see Danny White emerge as one of the greatest quarterbacks in Cowboys history.
White joins Roger Staubach in Cowboys lore and it’s hard to argue against it. I mean after winning Super Bowl XVI, he’s got the pressure off of him and he can go out there without the shadow of Staubach haunting him like a bad movie plot.
With two Super Bowl’s in the early 80’s, the Cowboys join the Steelers as the only teams in NFL history to win four Super Bowls and America’s Team does not have a forgettable decade.
As for the 49ers, this small glimpse in the spotlight goes sour.
The Fall of the 49ers
In the strike shortened season of 1982, the Niners go 3-6 (which actually happened) and it sent the 49ers into an offseason of frustration and turmoil.
Which takes us to the 1983 NFL Draft and John Elway’s decision to not play for the Baltimore Colts. So we all know about Elway balking at the very thought of playing for the Colts and Baltimore’s decision to still draft him.
However, thanks to the fantastic ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Elway to Marino, we’ve learned that 49ers coach Bill Walsh gave serious thought about trading Joe Montana to Baltimore for Elway, keeping him at home in California.
Well, given the fact that Montana hasn’t won anything and they finished 3-6 in 1982, it’s easy to see why San Francisco would consider pulling off this blockbuster trade in the middle of the draft.
And they do.
That’s right, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announces that San Francisco trades Montana to the Colts for the draft rights to Elway. While the move doesn’t make as much noise initially, Walsh along with 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo feel like they’ve made the game-changing trade they needed.
Elway is showered with praise as he trades Stanford Cardinal red and white for 49ers red and gold. For Montana, the move to Baltimore is short lived. In April of 1984, the Colts move to Indianapolis.
The Rise of the NFC
Some of this alternative history does stay the same. In this alternate universe we still do see a rise from teams in the NFC. In 1983, the Washington Redskins defeat the 49ers in the NFC Championship (which actually happened).
Another thing that takes place is the ’83 car accident to Drew Pearson. This was a major hit to the Cowboys and took some time for them to rebound from.
The following season of 1984 sees a rise from the New York Giants and Chicago Bears who both reached the NFC playoffs. Things do hold true in ’84 with San Francisco, led by Elway, defeats the Bears to advance to Super Bowl XIX and they defeat the Miami Dolphins.
Elway gets some help a few months later with the Niners drafting Jerry Rice in the 1985 NFL Draft. Yeah, instead of Montana to Rice we get Elway to Rice. Thoughts and prayers to any defense trying to defend that.
In 1985 things stay the same, the Bears shuffle their way to a Super Bowl XX win but instead of beating the Rams in the NFC Championship, they beat Dallas who’s still trying to recapture some glory from a few seasons before.
49ers Become the Team of the 80’s
Having come just one game short of a Super Bowl, the Cowboys make a bold move and pick up Herschel Walker after the USFL folds (which actually happened). The move doesn’t produce great results and the Giants win Super Bowl XXI over the Cleveland Browns because Elway isn’t leading the Broncos on the drive in the AFC Championship.
Also, in 1987, Montana finds moderate success with the Colts as they win the AFC East (also happened, and remember this for later on).
While Montana is having some success in Indy, the guy he was traded for is having greater success by the bay. Elway and Rice win consecutive Super Bowls in ’87 and ’88 and are immediately established as one of the great duos in all of sports history.
In 1989, Jerry Jones takes over the Cowboys, fires Tom Landry (happened) and the Cowboys decide to draft Troy Aikman as they leave the Danny White era. In ’89, the 49ers defeat the Buffalo Bills to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight Lombardi Trophies. So despite the struggles of the 49ers in the early decades the 49ers still win four titles and they still become the team of the 80s.
But what happens once we reach the 90s, do we see new challengers?
Cowboys, Niners and Montana’s redemption
The 90s gives us one of our first surprises in this alternate universe, the Bills win a Super Bowl! That’s right, the Bills stop a fourth-straight Super Bowl by San Francisco in 1990 and they win another in 1991 with a win over the Redskins in Super Bowl XXVI.
The next three seasons give us the Cowboys-49ers rivalry that we all know and respect but instead of Montana/Young vs. Aikman, it’s Elway vs. Aikman with Young serving as a mere backup on the sidelines in San Francisco. Dallas wins Super Bowl’s XXVII and XXVIII with San Francisco beating San Diego in Super Bowl XXIX.
Dallas enters Super Bowl XXX against an upstart Indianapolis Colts team led by none other than Montana who’s facing a Cowboys team that altered his career forever. After pulling off an upset in the AFC title game, the Colts are a 14-point underdog and Montana has been given the label “best QB to never win it all.”
In his final season in the NFL, Montana gets redemption over the Cowboys as the Colts defeat Dallas 26-24 to win Super Bowl XXX and Montana rides into the sunset a champion at last.