A new series to help finish up and round out the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason. Full disclosure: none of these will be flattering moments in team history. Gaffes never are. And while they’re usually reserved for the spoken world, “what the…” examples exist on the football field, too. Over the next week, we’ll be counting down the top five. Er, bottom five.
At the least, these are moments you can look back on and laugh. To keep from crying.
Steelers Gaffe No. 4 – Chase Claypool Signals First Down, Stops Team’s Drive
For Chase Claypool, this moment was the beginning of the end. Despite a hot shot start to his career and for all the talent he possessed, his height, speed, and overall athleticism, Claypool’s immaturity and antics wore thin. No clearer sign came than the final possession of the team’s 2021 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Trailing 29-7 entering the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh – in classic Steelers fashion – mounted a furious comeback. Three minutes into the final quarter, they cut the lead down to nine. And with four minutes remaining, they got it down to eight, a one-score game. The defense forced a punt and Ben Roethlisberger, king of clutch-time, got the ball back on his 4-yard line with just over two minutes to go.
Pittsburgh marched downfield. And in fairness, Claypool helped that endeavor with a 38-yard catch on the drive’s second play. With less than a minute to go and all timeouts exhausted, the Steelers faced 4th and 1. Roethlisberger hit Claypool on a quick slant on the right side, easily picking up the first down for a 9-yard gain to the Vikings’ 43. But the clock was still rolling, and the Steelers needed more than a field goal.
Though Chase Claypool had been in the NFL for a year-and-a-half, he acted like it was college rules. First down, clock stops. Instead of popping up, giving the ball to the ref, and hurrying back to the line, he flexed. Staying on a knee, he signaled first down and held the pose as everyone else scrambled around him. It took veteran right guard Trai Turner to retrieve the football. The two were almost fighting on the field as an angry Claypool seemingly couldn’t comprehend the situation.
With 16 precious seconds gone, Roethlisberger spiked the ball. Time would run out on the Steelers. A pinpoint pass to TE Pat Freiermuth couldn’t be corralled. The Steelers fell 12 yards shy of the goal line.
Claypool, benched for a personal foul earlier in the game, tried to take some accountability for his actions. But his post-game comments shifted the blame to Turner for knocking the ball from his hands.
“The ball got knocked out of my hands,” he told reporters. “That’s what cost us time. But I definitely do have to be better. I knew the situation.”
Not even two weeks after Chase Claypool’s suggestion of needing music at practice, fans quickly became fed up. So did the team. As his on-field production waned, the team gave him the boot mid-way through the following year. In 2022, Claypool was shipped to the Chicago Bears for a 2023 second-round pick. It was a steal of a deal for Pittsburgh, using that selection to nab Joey Porter Jr., while the Bears were left with damaged goods. Today, Claypool’s career is on the brink, trying to make the Buffalo Bills’ roster.
Steelers Biggest Gaffes
