The Pittsburgh Steelers needed a big play last Monday, and Calvin Austin III delivered—twice. He struck first on special teams, recording the team’s first punt-return touchdown since 2019. He didn’t get there last year, so to finally break one came to him as a big relief.
“Yeah, I would definitely say so. Just because, honestly, in my career of playing football, when I’ve gone a whole season of doing punt or kick return dating back to elementary, I’ve never gone a whole season without scoring”, Austin said on the Christian Kuntz podcast.
Austin only played extensively on special teams during his junior and senior seasons in college. He returned a punt for a touchdown each year. The Steelers were attracted to his ability to contributed as a returner when he came out of Memphis, though they liked his all-around game as well.
He showed why on Monday night. Shortly after returning a punt 73 yards for a touchdown, he also caught a pass for a 29-yard touchdown. It was his first multi-touchdown game of his NFL career and has him feeling more himself.
“Obviously the NFL is different, so you can’t really [compare]. I was like, ‘Man, that wasn’t me”, Austin said about failing to break a return in 2023. “After the season, I was disappointed, because I was like, ‘That’s not me to not have [a touchdown].’ I had some big returns, but to not have game-changing plays, that’s not me. So I was like, ‘That’s definitely going,’ so that was definitely special”.
Calvin Austin served as the Steelers’ punt returner throughout the 2023 season, having spent his rookie year on IR. On 29 returns, he recorded 249 yards, an 8.6-yard average. While he looked threatening at times, he could not break one longer than 34 yards.
This season, Austin has 206 yards on 16 returns, averaging 12.9 yards. Of course, when you have a 73-yard return, it can do wonders for your average. On his other 15 returns, he is averaging 8.9 yards.
Returns can be a fickle thing, though. Just one block can be the difference between a five-yard return and a home run. For Austin’s first NFL return touchdown, he gave credit to TE Rodney Williams for getting him to the sideline.
Every play in the NFL is an 11-man effort, and that might especially be true for returns. If one person misses his block, or strays from his lane, it can completely change the outcome of a play. Calvin Austin is realizing that is more true at the NFL level than before. And the more he understands that, the more effective he is becoming as a return man.
