CATCHING ON FAST
Dream start for Claypool
Ben Roethlisberger lofted the ball deep toward the left sideline, taking a hard shot from a Denver Broncos lineman that left him on his back, looking at the sky over Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
The stands were empty and silent, bare because of COVID-19 restrictions, and without their cue, the Steelers' quarterback had no clue what was happening.
“I got hit right as I threw it, and without the crowd, you really don't know what happens,” he said. “You don't know if it's caught, incomplete, touchdown … there's just no reaction. I had no idea what was going on.”
What he missed was history — an 84-yard touchdown catch by Chase Claypool, the longest TD play by a Canadian in NFL history.
The rookie out of Abbotsford cleanly beat Broncos corner Michael Ojemudia with an outside release, holding him off to pull in the fourth-longest touchdown catch by a Steelers rookie. Roethlisberger connected with JuJu Smith- Schuster for a 97-yarder in 2017 and with Martavis Bryant on 94-yard score in 2014, while Terry Bradshaw hooked up with Dave Smith for an 87-yard TD in 1970.
In just two games, Claypool has produced two of the best highlights of the NFL season this year. The kid nicknamed “MapleTron” made a toe-tapping, sideline skirting, 28yard grab in double coverage for his first NFL catch, one that had the lowest completion probability of Week 1 in the NFL.
“That's something that I've worked on for the last eight years, from the beginning of high school until now, just kind of going through little drills that you have to be aware where your feet are,” said Claypool.
“Having your toe on the sideline or not the sideline can change the outcome of a game. So I know how important that is, so I've been working on it a lot and now it kind of comes natural to me.”
His touchdown catch in Sunday's 26-21 win came against a zone blitz, with Roethlisberger dropping a rainbow 37 yards through the air for a rare deep completion.
“It was pretty cool, because sometimes you hear the play call, and you know you're going to score or the ball's coming your way,” Claypool told reporters after the game.
“That was one of those plays where I knew I had a pretty good chance to get the ball … and Ben put it in the perfect spot.
“Usually it's kind of tough to focus on the ball when you're running full speed because your head's shaking a little bit, but Ben lofted it up pretty good to the point it wasn't hard to see the ball. I just had to run under it.”
“I didn't have a lot of time, so I just kind of threw it far and high, and let Chase run under it. He really kind of did all the work,” Roethlisberger said.
The six-foot-four, 238-pound 22-year-old out of Notre Dame now has five catches for 127 yards and a TD, along with one rush for eight yards. Claypool has a solo tackle and two assists playing on special teams coverage, the usual starting place for a rookie.
“I think the coaches are doing a really good job in getting me into the games. They haven't thrown me into the fire, and they're not asking too much,” said the Abbotsford Panthers alum. “Making a play here or there is something I can definitely do. But as the season progresses, I plan on playing more and more, and contributing to (the team) even more.
“I was on special teams for the very first play of my career, so it allowed me to see how everyone was moving and allowed me to adjust when I went in there on offence.”
The Steelers took Claypool in the second round, 49th overall, with their first pick in the 2020 NFL draft. And it wasn't his offensive statistics that caught the eyes of coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert when they first laid eyes on Claypool at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in January.
“We were just really impressed with him as a football player, no matter what was going on down there,” Tomlin said Monday. “Whether it was special teams drills and he was playing gunner … or blocking drills and he was blocking DBs (defensive backs), he just showed the type of football character that we covet.”
I just kind of threw it far and high, and let Chase run under it. He really kind of did all the work.