When Pittsburgh Steelers punter Brad Wing suits up for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, it will be 3,193 days between appearances with the Steelers, which will mark the third-largest span between appearances in team history. TE Walter Rasby, who played in nine career games with Pittsburgh between the playoffs and regular season, has the largest gap at 3,619 days.
Rasby’s last appearance of his first stint with the Steelers came on January 15, 1995, a playoff loss against the then-San Diego Chargers in his rookie season. His last appearance came in his last game of his career, a Steelers 41-27 playoff loss against the New England Patriots on January 23, 2005. He had one reception for six yards in that game, which was the only reception he ever had as a Steeler.
The second-longest gap belongs to Chad Brown, who made his final appearance of his first tenure on January 5, 1997, a playoff loss against the New England Patriots (get used to reading that sentence in this article). He came back on October 15, 2006, marking a 3,570-day gap between appearances with the Steelers.
CB Willie Williams also left the Steelers following that 1997 playoff loss to the Patriots, but he returned on September 12, 2004, marking just a 2,807-day gap. That’s the fifth-longest, as WR Plaxico Burress’ 2,863-day gap is the fourth-longest. Burress’ last game after his initial Steelers tenure came on the last game of Rasby’s career, the January 23, 2005 loss to the Patriots. He returned midseason in 2012, suiting back up for the Steelers on November 25, 2012.
Wing’s last appearance before tomorrow took place on January 3, 2015, a 30-17 playoff loss against the Baltimore Ravens. He was traded to the New York Giants before the 2015 season, and will return to Pittsburgh tomorrow, after seven years out of the NFL. His last NFL game was December 31, 2017.
There are some notable names on this last, as Brown was an All-Pro in Pittsburgh and Burress had multiple 1,000+-yard receiving seasons. Williams was a solid starter, with seven interceptions in 1995 for Pittsburgh. But then there’s names like Wing and Rasby, guys who maybe didn’t make the biggest impact but had steady careers and were obviously thought highly enough to be brought back.
Wing will have a chance to make an impact after years out of the league after reviving his career with the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas, where he averaged 47.9 yards per punt. With Pressley Harvin III coming off back-to-back strong performances, Wing will have high expectations as he makes his season debut against the Houston Texans tomorrow.
