The 1995 iteration of the Pittsburgh Steelers very nearly cemented themselves in franchise history, almost bringing what would have been the team’s fifth Lombardi Trophy back to Pittsburgh. The Steelers went to Super Bowl XXX that season against the Dallas Cowboys and could have pulled off the win if not for three costly interceptions thrown by Neil O’Donnell. They finished the regular season 11-5, winning the AFC Central and securing the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. One player who had a significant impact on that season was WR Ernie Mills.
Prior to that, Mills had only received 18 total starts in four seasons after being selected in the third round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Entering the year, he was frustrated with his role as he had only averaged 308 yards over his first four NFL seasons.
“The season wasn’t about to start off the way I wanted to. I wasn’t going to start again,” Mills said in an appearance on the All 4 Gators podcast. “So I go to Coach [Bill] Cowher and ask him, ‘Can I return kickoffs? I wanna do something, I need to get the ball in my hands.'”
He had returned one for a touchdown in his rookie season, but Rod Woodson was still in his prime and handled most of those duties for the team. At that point, Woodson was already a five-time first-team All-Pro selection and six-time Pro Bowler, but Woodson tore his ACL in the ’95 season opener, so it was the perfect time for Mills to show interest in returning kicks. He ended up returning 54 kicks for 1,306 total yards (24.2 avg.) in 1995 and had a long of 57 yards.
That involvement in the kicking game and getting the ball in his hands more led to a career season for him with 39 receptions on 69 targets for 679 yards and eight touchdowns. Chipping in another 39 rushing yards, Mills eclipsed the 2,000 all-purpose yard mark. That was far and away the highest production over his nine-year NFL career.
“I think it got me into the flow. I didn’t get a lot of catches early in the year,” Mills said. “Around Week 7, [O’Donnell] said, ‘I need Ernie on third down.’ Started getting into the groove, and by returning kickoffs, I got into the groove a lot sooner.”
Mills went on to make two crucial plays at the end of the AFC Championship Game against Indianapolis, starting with what would have been a game-winning interception by the Colts.
“We had a slant called, and Neil didn’t see the linebacker jump it, Quentin Coryatt, and I knew he had a bead on it,” Mills said. “I knew he had a bead on it, and I brought out the DB skills. I got a hand in there to hit him and deflect it, so that was huge.”
So was the play he made shortly after that. Mills caught a 37-yard pass down to the 1-yard line where RB Bam Morris punched it in for the game-winning score.
He even had a pretty good game for himself in that Super Bowl loss with 78 yards on eight receptions, but three interceptions and a loss with a fifth Steelers Super Bowl title on the line overshadows that accomplishment.
