Montana & Clark had "The Catch" in 1981; Purdy and Aiyuk had "The Opp" in 2024

Monday night I had an opportunity to watch the replay of the San Francisco 49ers tremendous comeback against the Detroit Lions which will send them to the Super Bowl in two weeks against the Kansas City Chiefs.

It then hit me when I watched the post-game press conference on the 49ers media website.

The one play that no one can stop talking about is going to go down in history as one of the greatest catches ever made in an NFC Championship Game. This catch will be right up there with "The Catch" that Dwight Clark made famous against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship game.

Just call it, "The Opp"

49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk made a spectacular fourth-quarter grab that bounced off of Detroit Lions defensive back Kindle Vildor's helmet and caught the ball on the rebound, near the five-yard line, to set up a touchdown that he would score that ignited the San Francisco comeback.

"When I saw him catch that I said that was insane. I just wanted to give him an opp," 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said after the game. "To have an explosive play like that was huge in that moment. We needed it. We got down the field real quick."

So, Purdy, two years in the league, refers to an opportunity as an "opp". I am hip, I am with it. That catch will always, hereinafter be referred to as "The Opp".

"I heard the stadium erupt and I saw BA curled up on the ball and I was like, 'Dang, he caught that.'", Purdy reiterated. "We need a play. BA is one-on-one and I am gonna take a shot. "People can say what they want, but I was giving my guy a shot, and it worked out.

"My job is to distribute the ball to the guys that are open and if something is not there you have to find away. At the end of the day, I was just trying to give him an opp."

There he goes with that "opp" thing again. As a result of that "opp" and the plays that ensued, Purdy will be the starting quarterback in the Super Bowl.

Purdy will never have an opp like that again. If this were a movie, the director would yell "cut, print, that's a wrap."

Aiyuk is crediting a lucky ladybug for the wild catch. After the game he told Erin Andrews a story about a ladybug incident before the game.

"Before the game, a ladybug landed on my shoe. And you all know what that means," Aiyuk said. "That's all I can say. Other than that, I don't know."

During the press conference after the game, Aiyuk said he was surprised when he came away with the football.

"I don't even know what happened," Aiyuk said. "The fire was ignited a little bit and we finished it off with seven points. It's just bang-bang. I just finally got to my phone and got to watch the replay.

"That was lit," Aiyuk said with a grin before walking out of the room like he was dropping the microphone on his way out.