Blue and Gold Illustrated

Oct. 10, 2020

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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42 OCT. 10, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH IN THE PROS BY ANDREW MENTOCK P ittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball as high and as far as he could down the left sideline. As he did, a blitzing Denver Broncos linebacker hit him at full speed after breaking through the offensive line untouched. Looking toward the sky, rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool lo- cated the ball as he outran two de- fenders, skirted the sideline as he made the catch and then ignited the afterburners as he sprinted to the end zone for an 84-yard touchdown. The whole time, a bewildered Ro- ethlisberger laid on the turf. "Without the crowd, you really don't know what happens," Roethlis- berger told reporters after the team's week two matchup against the Bron- cos. "You can't tell if it's caught, in- complete, touchdown. There's just no reaction. I had no idea what was going on." Claypool, on the other hand, ex- pected to catch the ball before it was ever snapped, noticing that the cor- ner was playing up after spending most of the game backed off the line of scrimmage. "When I did go in, we called that play and the DB pressed, which is really good for that play call, obvi- ously," Claypool said. In a game Pittsburgh would go on to win 26-21, the touchdown put the Steelers up 14-3 in the second quar- Chase Claypool Kicks Off His NFL Career With Several Spectacular Grabs Claypool's 84-yard scoring grab against the Broncos Sept. 19 was the fourth-longest touchdown reception by a Steelers rookie and the longest touchdown from scrimmage by a Canadian-born player in NFL history. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH STEELERS

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