When Dwight Clark met with his former colleagues and friends, he didn't want to discuss his battle with ALS, said former San Francisco 49ers head coach and NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci on The Rich Eisen Show. Clark, of course, filled everyone in on how he was doing physically, but the gatherings typically were filled with stories and a whole lot of laughs.
Friends like Mariucci, Bryant Young, who is currently the defensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons, Garrison Hearst, and others would fly in to spend time with Clark.
"It was fun, and it was story time," Mariucci said. "He makes us laugh, we make him laugh, and for a couple of hours, it's a diversion, I guess."
You could hear the heartbreak in Mariucci's voice as he finished those words but tried to stay strong during the phone interview with Rich Eisen. It was a testament to how Clark touched the lives of so many people.
Mariucci had the privilege of briefly working with Clark when Mariucci joined the 49ers as the head coach in 1997. Clark was serving as the EVP and director of football operations with the team before being named its general manager for a year and then moving on to Cleveland Browns in the same role.
"As competitive as he was on the football field, he was that way as the general manager too," Mariucci said.
Clark always seemed to have a smile on his face, but Mariucci recalls one time where that wasn't the case. He wishes the rare moment could have been preserved with a photo, but that was before smartphones.
"I walked down to his office one time, and he was screaming at some guy, some other general manager," Mariucci shared. "Screaming at him. And I walked in, and the guy was trying to get every pound of flesh on a trade from him. He hung up the phone, and he put his head on his desk, and he was exhausted. And I walked in, and I started laughing. I said, 'Oh my God, that was a good one.' They didn't have cell phones back then that recorded. It would have been classic."
While fans have heard a lot about Clark's work ethic as a player, Mariucci says nothing changed when he served as a team executive.
"He was there every single day," Mariucci continued. "Every single day. Fridays, Saturdays. We'd have walkthroughs; he was there with me (for) every single thing we ever did. I told him many times he was the hardest working general manager, by far, I've ever seen with me. He was just so committed to the 49er organization.
"God, was he loved Rich ... He has so many friends for so long that wanted to come and see him, and we would have kept doing that if he lived for another 10 or 20 years. He was so loved by so many people."