Antonio Brown almost scored one of the greatest touchdowns in the history of the NFL when he and the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Miami Dolphins in the 2013 season.

Antonio Brown may go down as one of the best wide receivers of his generation, having put up 12,044 receiving yards and 78 receiving touchdowns to go with 4 first-team All-Pro honours, 7 Pro Bowl appearances and being named in the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 2010s.

When you consider that he was initially a 6th-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, it makes it all the more impressive that he was able to accomplish all that from such a low start, or perhaps that everyone else made a mistake by letting him fall that far down the pecking order.

It just makes it all the sadder what he became towards the end of his career, as personal problems and a bad attitude have kept him out of the league, indeed the last time that we saw him was as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season:

But there is no doubt that he was capable of some special plays, and this could very well have been one of the finest of his career, if only he’d kept his feet in bounds. 

A matter of inches

Everyone remembers the ‘Miami Miracle’, the play that saw the Dolphins pull off a similar play before they beat the New England Patriots in the 2018 season:

Well perhaps the inspiration from that play came from a game they played against the Steelers during the 2013 season. With the Steelers down by a touchdown and with little time left on the clock, the Steelers began to throw the ball around, looking for a gap to open up before looking for the endzone.

They found that gap, but it just wasn’t big enough for them to squeeze through, as Brown took the ball down the sidelines, but wasn’t able to keep himself away from straying out of bounds after the time had expired:

It could have been one of the dramatic touchdowns of all time, and could have gone down as the highlight of Brown’s overall resume if he’d have pulled it off. But it just goes to show how thin the margins can be when it comes to playing in the NFL.