Steelers P Mat McBriar throws first pass in 10th NFL season

It took a fake punt in a Week 16 game against the Packers, but Steelers P Mat McBriar attempted -- and completed -- his first NFL pass in his 10th season.

By Ryan Wilson

Dec 23, 2013 at 3:46 pm ET • 1 min read

You wouldn't have known it to watch Steelers punter Mat McBriar throw the football, but his 30-yard pass Sunday to fourth-string tight end David Paulson was the first time in his NFL career that he put the ball in the air with anything other than his foot.

When the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gene Collier asked McBriar how long it had been since he threw a pass, he said, "That would be my first pass, first I've attempted in 10 years of football."

Collier: Any attempts at any other level of football, college, grammar school, etc.?

McBriar: Uh ... no.

So not only did McBriar, roll right and successfully find Paulson to keep the third-quarter drive alive, he was also on the receiving end of a roughing-the-passer penalty.

Oh, and there's this:

"Actually, Paulson was my second option," McBriar said, confirming that special-teamer Robert Golden was the first. "I've done it enough in practice that I felt really good about it, and I think everyone else did too. There were times a few weeks ago where maybe I thought, 'Well, this could be nuts.' But as I got more and more comfortable doing something I'm not used to doing, I felt better about it."