PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – To get an upset on the road, you normally have to have a few unique things happen. The Steelers have done it before, here is name of a player coming back from injury who could be a difference maker.
Steven Sims.
I hear the snickering. The fourth-year-receiver spent time on the Steelers practice squad last year and then signed with the Steelers this offseason looking for a fresh start. In a tight battle he made the team, maybe because Calvin Austin started the season on Injured Reserve.
“I treat every year the same,” Sims said. “I’m undrafted, so it’s like every year I will have to earn my spot, prove myself again.”
He was inactive for the first few weeks, called upon after Gunner Olszewski fumbled twice in the first four games.
That’s when his story got weirder.
The Steelers starting kick returner in Buffalo. He got hit in the eye with a football playing catch during early pregame.
“Kenny threw me a ball, it slipped through by hands,” Sims said. “Hit me dead in the eye. Didn’t think I would be able to see again. I was kind of scared.”
As he told us the story, a teammate walked by yelling ‘Stevie Wonder’. He had to wear dark sunglasses inside the facility that week.
“I was definitely feeling like Stevie Wonder,” Sims said. “I was getting the jokes all week when I had glasses on when I messed my eye up.”
Sims laughing as he told the story as a few teammates were laughing around him. The team wasn’t laughing as without Sims to return kicks, James Pierre as an emergency fill-in, fumbled a kickoff leading to three Buffalo points.
Sims would make it through all of that and play the next week against Tampa Bay. In a sloppy offensive game, Sims would provide a few splash plays. He took the opening kickoff of the second half 89 yards. The Steelers would add a field goal. He would return the next punt 24 yards, setting the offense up at the 48-yard line.
A couple of big plays as 10-point underdogs to help turn the momentum of that game.
Sims was back to a full practice for the first time since the Tampa Bay game Thursday. Because nothing comes easy to him, he pulled his hamstring during the kickoff return and missed the Miami game.
“It keeps me positive,” Sims said of dealing with adversity. “I’ve always been the underdog story. It’s really nothing new to me. This is what I do. I come in and work hard every day regardless of what they have going on, who’s in front of me. I just put in the work. I waited for my opportunity, when it came, I showed you what I can do.”
In the last two big upset wins on the road. Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked an extra point after the Bengals scored the game-tying touchdown as time expired. Last year in Buffalo, it was a Miles Killebrew blocked punt recovered by Ulysees Gilbert.
Wouldn’t it be so amazing if the guy they were calling Stevie Wonder would help the Steelers sign, seal and deliver a win in Philly.