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. 3 – Dave Smith Walks Into End Zone, Forgets The Football
Dave Smith wasn’t the last to do it. But he might have been the first. One of, at least. Fire up any football folly reel, and you’ll find all the examples of players dropping the football short of the goal line. Desean Jackson is arguably the most famous but from time to time, players get too excited, lose track of where they’re at, and their coasting into the end zone makes them think they’ve reached it sooner than they have.
For Dave Smith, that’s exactly what happened in 1971.
Unfortunately for the Smith name, this isn’t the first time we’ve highlighted the play. Dave Bryan had him on his list reviewing the team’s biggest plays of the last 50 years, one that should’ve ended with a bang instead of a whimper. QB Terry Bradshaw hit Smith over the middle, and he motored upfield, getting key blocks from teammate Ron Shanklin, outracing the Kansas City Chiefs defense, and trotting into the end zone.
Slowing down inside the 5, he threw his hands up in the air. The ball went with it. Looking over the opposite shoulder, he lost sight of the football. It bounded away through the end zone, WR Jon Staggers saw the mistake and raced after it. But it was too late. The ball rolled through the end zone for a touchback.
It was that kind of night for the Steelers, going up 9-0 on a trio of Roy Gerela kicks. However, the Chiefs scored 31 unanswered and won 38-16.
Smith wouldn’t last much longer with the Steelers, joining the Houston Oilers mid-way through 1972. The only solace is ’71 wasn’t the team’s banner year. Their roster was a work in progress, and they had to shed themselves of the “lovable loser” label that followed them their first 35 years. Soon, it would happen. Just not that night. Not for Dave Smith.
STEELERS BIGGEST GAFFES
No. 5 – Hey Richard Huntley, The Play Isn’t Over!
No. 4 – What Are You Doing, Chase Claypool
