30th Anniversary of "The Catch": 5 Other Great Catches in Sports

Sorry, Everson Walls: It's not your day.

​Thirty years ago today, Dallas Cowboy haters -- in other words, every right-thinking person in the world -- rejoiced when Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers made what has gone down in history as The Catch to put the dagger in the Cowboys' title hopes.

It's widely regarded as one of the most historic catches in sports history.

It's not the only candidate, though. Here are five others.

5. The other The Catch
Long before Dwight Clark made The Catch, those two capitalized words were assumed to be referring to Willie Mays's unforgettable play in the 1954 World Series.

The Polo Grounds was built for polo, obviously, so it had very short distances down the lines for baseball but a massive center field that reached 483 feet from home plate. Mays took off after a Vic Wirtz smash, getting an amazing jump on it, caught it in stride with his back to the plate and, perhaps most importantly, whirled and fired a powerful no-look throw to hold the runners to the minimum advance.

In his very good Mays biography, author James S. Hirsch devotes an entire chapter to this single play.

4. David Tyree's one shining moment
One of the most improbable plays in Super Bowl history, leading to one of the biggest upsets in football's biggest game.

New York Giants QB Eli Manning escaped from a fierce rush and little-used wide receiver David Tyree became immortal when he plastered the ball to his helmet and held on for dear life.

Tyree later used his fame to campaign against same-sex marriage in his native New Jersey so, you know, there's that.