Steelers Throwback Thursday: Five longest TD receptions in franchise history

by Christina "Tina" Rivers (3Rivers_Writer) on July 20, 2023

Steel City Underground takes fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times and players in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us as we revisit these moments in our “Steelers Throwback Thursday” series.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have historically had a knack at finding talent at the receiver position. Over the years, they’ve fielded Elbie Nickel, Ray Mathews, Hines Ward, Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and George Pickens. Those are certainly not the only memorable players to make receptions in the NFL while wearing the black and gold, but they gave fans memorable moments in time. This week, we go back to look at five of the longest touchdown receptions, and ten players who have settled into the list of longest receptions, so far, in franchise history.

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Great JuJu!

On Sunday, October 29 (2017), the longest touchdown reception in franchise history was set in a regular season game against the Detroit Lions by Smith-Schuster. On a third-and-nine at the Steelers’ three-yard line, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger uncorked the bottle when he went all out in getting a deep ball to a wide open rookie. Smith-Schuster was mid-stride when Roethlisberger’s pass zipped to him, and the young receiver was able to streak down the field and into the end zone with three Lions defenders hot on his tail. The play went for 97 yards and the subsequent touchdown. The Steelers won win the game, 20-15.

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Wallace goes for 95 yards

On Sunday, October 23 (2011), it was Mike Wallace that “Big Ben” connected with on a pass that actually was a deeper throw by the quarterback than the ball he threw to Smith-Schuster for the franchise title. On the road against the Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh faced a first-and-15 at the four yard line. After the snap, Wallace took off along the right sideline to haul in a catch on the run for 95 yards and the touchdown, outracing Cardinals defensive backs for the score. The catch was actually brought in somewhere near the 40-yard line and showcased what was then the longest touchdown reception in franchise history.

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Bryant to the house

On Sunday, December 7 (2014) the longest play from scrimmage was owned by Martavis Bryant. On a first-and-ten from their own six yard line, Roethlisberger took the snap and actually wound up to throw inside the end zone. Bryant, lined up the the outside right streaked out of his stance to grab the pass, mid-stride, near the 5o-yard line. He never had to look back as the Cincinnati Bengals’ closest defenders were nowhere close to catching Bryant as he put on speed. Untouched for the touchdown, Bryant’s reception came around 13 years after the fourth-longest touchdown reception in franchise history.

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Stewart to Shaw

There are a lot of newer Steelers fans that would have trouble remembering who Kordell Stewart and Bobby Shaw were, let alone the history touchdown reception that stood as the franchise’s longest for just over a decade. On Sunday, December 16 (2001), Pittsburgh was on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. With 9:02 left in the final quarter of the AFC North rivalry game, Stewart – known as “Slash” to many fans – was backed up nearly into his own end zone when he let fly a pass over the middle of the field that was caught by a streaking Shaw. On the third-and-seven play, Shaw caught the ball and took it nearly 65 yards after the catch straight to the end zone.

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QB to QB?

On Sunday, November 8 (1981) two quarterbacks made their mark on the Steelers history books when they connected – yes, you read that correctly – on a 90-yard touchdown pass-and-reception. The players involved were Terry Bradshaw and Mark Malone. In a road game against the Seattle Seahawks, the duo broke a record that had stood for two decades on a second-and-10 play from the Steelers’ 10-yard line. Malone lined up on the right side and was only asked to play receiver due to injuries. On one of the most famous plays in franchise history, Bradshaw found Malone for a catch near the 35-yard line. Malone raced the rest of the way to the end zone untouched as the Seahawks blew their coverage.

Things in common

Oddly enough, every single record-breaking touchdown reception happened while the Steelers were on the road. The plays all took place after October 1 of that year’s season. Every single reception also went for 90 or more yards, as well. Strange coincidence? Perhaps. Regardless, the plays go down in Steelers franchise history as the five longest touchdown receptions.

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Top Steelers receivers

So, did the top ten receivers of all time in Steelers history appear in the top five receptions for a touchdown list? You might be surprised to learn that only Smith-Schuster made the top ten in receiving yards. The top receiver by yardage (1,000 catches for 12,083 yards) is Hines Ward, and his longest reception went for an 85-yard touchdown.

The top ten Steelers by total receptions are as follows:

Hines Ward – 1,000 for 12,083 yards
Antonio Brown – 837 for 11, 207 yards
Heath Miller – 592 for 6,569 yards
John Stallworth – 537 for 8,723 yards
Louis Lipps – 358 for 6,018 yards
Diontae Johnson – 340 for 3,646 yards
Lynn Swann – 336 for 5,462 yards
Elbie Nickel – 329 for 5,131 yards
JuJu Smith-Schuster – 323 for 3,855 yards
Le’Veon Bell – 312 for 2,660 yards

Several of those players did have long touchdown receptions. Besides Ward, Brown had a 79-yard touchdown catch, Miller had an 87-yarder, Stallworth had a 74-yarder, Lipps had an 89-yarder, Johnson had a 50-yarder, Swann had a 68-yarder, and Smith-Schuster has already been mentioned above. Nickel and Bell were the odd men out on the top 10 of passes caught for the most yardage.

As for other players on offense for Pittsburgh who had big touchdown receptions and are in the top 50 of franchise reception leaders, they are listed as follows (by longest TD reception):