Former 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark, who gave the Bay Area once of its most iconic sports moments with "The Catch" in 1982, announced his battle with ALS in a post on his blog Sunday.
"I have ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease," the legendary 49ers wide receiver wrote. "Those words are still very hard for me to say."
Clark, 60, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in late 2015, he wrote, after visits to six neurologists and three ALS specialists.
"The one piece of good news is that the disease seems to be progressing more slowly than in some patients," Clark wrote. "While I'm still trying to wrap my head around the challenge I will face with this disease over the coming years, the only thing I know is that I'm going to fight like hell and live every day to the fullest."
Weakness in his left hand in September 2015 tipped him off the possibility of something being wrong _ though the first diagnosis was a B-12 vitamin deficiency, which can mirror the ALS symptoms.
"I was mildly paying attention to it because since my playing days, I've constantly had pain in my neck," Clark wrote. "I was thinking it was related to some kind of nerve damage because it would just come and go."
Clark's playing days lasted nine seasons, in which he won two Super Bowls and entered 49ers lore for "The Catch" from Joe Montana in the 1982 NFC Championship Game that sent the 49ers to the first of four Super Bowls. His 6,750 receiving yards rank third in franchise history behind only Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens.
"I've been asked if playing football caused this. I don't know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did," he wrote. "And I encourage the NFLPA and the NFL to continue working together in their efforts to make the game of football safer, especially as it relates to head trauma."
Clark categorized his condition as debilitated.
"I can't run, play golf or walk any distances. Picking up anything over 30 pounds is a chore," he wrote. "In addition to losing strength in my left hand _ which makes opening a pack of sugar or buttoning my shirt impossible _ I have now experienced weakness in my right hand, abs, lower back and right leg."
