Clark, 60, said he was diagnosed with the disease after visits to six neurologists and three ALS specialists.

AD

AD

“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.”

Clark said he has started experiencing weakness in his right hand, abs, lower back and right leg.

“I’ve been asked if playing football caused this,” Clark wrote. “I don’t know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did. 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.”

AD

Clark tweeted a link to his statement Sunday night. His Twitter avatar is the iconic image of him leaping to pull in Joe Montana’s pass with 58 seconds remaining in the NFC championship at Candlestick Park on Jan. 10, 1982. Clark’s grab, which came to be known simply as “The Catch,” helped the 49ers defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-27, and clinch a spot in their first Super Bowl. Two weeks later, the 49ers defeated the Bengals, 26-21, in Super Bowl XVI.

AD

“What I love about it the most is that it’s connected me with 49ers fans for the rest of time,” Clark said of ‘The Catch’ in 2013. “I didn’t realize at the time that people would keep talking about it. But they not only talk about it, they pass it down through the generations. I’ll be at an autograph thing, there’ll be a 10-year old kid saying, ‘You’re The Catch.’ ”

Clark, who played all nine seasons of his career with the 49ers, thanked his friends for their support and released a series of remarks from his former teammates about his diagnosis.