Still Curtain
FanSided

5 Steelers who went onto win a Super Bowl elsewhere

By Brendan Howe

Former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (81). Mandatory Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (81). Mandatory Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images /
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Former Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress (80). Mandatory Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Former Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress (80). Mandatory Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images /

Plaxico Burress

There was little over a minute left on the clock in Super Bowl XLII. His pursuers zeroing in, Eli Manning climbs the pocket. Momentarily engulfed by a navy blue pass rush, the passer pulls away from a defender’s grip, flees, and slings the football deep. With a safety dressing him, David Tyree pulls the ball in, pressing it to his helmet as he crashes to the turf.

The image is among the most renowned in NFL history, but it was Plaxico Burress that beat the final nail into the previously undefeated Patriots’ coffin.

Acquired by the Steelers with the 8th turn of the 2000 NFL Draft, Plax spent the first half-decade of his career in black and gold. All-time, he places 9th in receiving yards in Pittsburgh, and, owing to the fact that his time here coincided with some of Hines Ward’s most productive seasons, he’s not as applauded as others so high on the list.

A reliable target for Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox alike, he led the team with 1,008 receiving yards in 2001. With Ward bettering 1,000 yards receiving also, the two became the first Steelers tandem to accomplish the feat. Burress reached the mark with 28 fewer receptions.

Burress left Pittsburgh for the New York Giants in 2005, who he would lead in receiving yards for the next three campaigns. Following a 20-month jail sentence and a stint with the New York Jets, he circled back to a Pittsburgh receiving corps beset by injury in 2012.

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