It's a good thing that Brad Wing didn't give up on his NFL career, because he's officially back in the league after six years away.
The punter has signed a practice squad deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who decided to add some insurance at the punter position this week after Pressley Harvin III suffered a hamstring injury during the team's 23-18 win over the Raiders last week.
Harvin has been ruled out for Week 4 against the Texans, which prompted the Steelers to promote Wing to the active roster on Saturday -- all but ensuring that he'll make his long-awaited NFL return Sunday afternoon.
For Wing, the signing means that he's now with an NFL team for the first time since 2017. During his first stint in the NFL, the former LSU punter played a total of four seasons. After going undrafted in 2013, Wing signed with the Eagles, but he was cut before the start of the season.
One year later, he latched on with the Steelers and ended up spending the entire season with them. Wing, who's from Melbourne, was an early part of the Australian punting movement that has slowly taken over the NFL. The Seahawks (Michael Dickson), 49ers (Mitch Wishnowsky) and Saints (Lou Hedley) all have an Australian punter. The Texans also have one (Cameron Johnston), but he's currently on IR. The Eagles also had one (Arryn Siposs) before cutting him prior to Week 3.
As for Wing, after a short stint in Pittsburgh, he signed with the Giants in 2015 and ended up spending three seasons with them before being released in March 2018. Following his time with the Giants, Wing bounced around, going from spring league to spring league. In 2019, he spent time in the Alliance of American Football (AAF), and that was followed up by a one-season stint with the XFL's San Antonio Brahma's in 2023.
Wing had a huge season in the XFL, ranking in the top-3 in punts, punting average, total yards, and longest punt, and that's likely a big reason why the Steelers decided to sign him. The Steelers also looked at a few other punters -- including Drue Chrisman, Blake Gillikin, Pat O'Donnell -- before making the decision to sign Wing.
The 32-year-old hasn't played in an NFL game since December 2017, so if he does get a chance to play this weekend, he'll have gone nearly six full years between games.
