Dwight Garner, Who Was Part of THE PLAY, Passes Away

He died two days before the 40th anniversary of the famous 1982 play

Dwight Garner, a former Cal football player who always claimed his knee was not down when he made the third lateral in 1982 in The Play, died on Friday. He was 58.

Garner died of prostate cancer. He lived in Florida and had been a risk manager.

Ahmad Anderson, who was a member of the 1982 Cal team, announced Garner’s passing during Friday’s unveiling of the Kevin Moen statue outside Memorial Stadium commemorating this year’s 40th anniversary of five-lateral kickoff return known as The Play, which gave Cal a 25-20 victory.

“A true brother, his knee was never down, and we will always stand here remembering him in this moment in this time for as long as we live and thereafter,” Anderson said amid tears as shown in the cover photo and the video atop this story.

The 5-foot-8 Garner was a freshman when he received the second lateral from Richard Rodgers and pitched it back to Rodgers just before he went down.

Here’s what Garner said in 1992, 10 years after The Play, on that moment:

“I said, ‘Rich,’ and he threw it. I was a young freshman and I was thinking touchdown, which is why I was tackled by 20 people.

“I had the ball almost between my legs; my forearm was the only thing free. If I had fallen with that ball, my career would have been a lot different.”

He graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland, and as a senior he had more than 400 yards of offense and scored five touchdowns in the Oakland Athletic League championship game.

In his four-year career at Cal he rushed for 1,048 yards and caught 120 passes for 1,027 yards. As a freshman in 1982, Garner had 30 carries for 102 yards and caught seven passes for 78 yards.

For his Cal career he returned 51 kickoffs for 958 yards, and returned 35 punts for 274 yards and a touchdown. He scored 10 touchdowns in his four years with the Golden Bears.

Garner was not selected in the 1986 NFL draft, but he played in two NFL games in 1986 for Washington and returned seven kickoffs for 142 yards.

He also played in three playoff games for Washington that season, returning five kickoffs for 98 yards. Garner's Washington team fell one win short of reaching the Super Bowl, losing to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game.

The 40th anniversary of The Play is Sunday, Nov. 20.

Sad news to share. Dwight Garner, the Cal running back who caught the second lateral and threw the third, when the Bears came back to win the 1982 Big Game, with The Play, has died at the age of 58. He had prostate cancer. The 40th anniversary of The Play is Sunday.

— Jeremy Schaap (@JeremySchaap) November 18, 2022

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport