Steelers’ Worst Gaffes: Field The Football, Barry Foster!

A new series to help finish up and round out the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason. Full disclosure: none of these will be flattering moments in team history. Gaffes never are. And while they’re usually reserved for the spoken world, “what the…” examples exist on the football field, too. Over the next week, we’ll be counting down the top five. Er, bottom five.

At the least, these are moments you can look back on and laugh. To keep from crying.

Steelers Gaffe No. 2 – Barry Foster Doesn’t Field The Football

It’s hard to have more of a brain-off moment than what Barry Foster did in a 1990 game against the San Francisco 49ers. A rookie fifth-round pick, he worked on the kick return team before getting his chance as the Steelers starting running back years later.

Traveling to Candlestick Park against the undefeated 49ers, the odds were already stacked against the 3-3 Steelers. It left them no margin for error, which made Foster’s folly all the more difficult to watch.

Pittsburgh hung tough in the first half. They struck first on a Richard Bell touchdown catch from Bubby Brister and went into the half trailing just 10-7. San Francisco kicker Mike Cofer tacked on a field goal in the third quarter, pushing their lead up to 13-7.

On the ensuing kickoff, Cofer kicked deep. Foster, standing near the left sideline, turned and just…watched it fall. The ball landed at the 15 and bounced a couple hops to the 5. Foster made no attempt at any point to go after the ball, apparently (and wrongly) assuming it would become a dead ball. Not how the NFL works. That’s a live ball for either side to pick up.

San Francisco knew those rules better than Foster, and veteran wide receiver Mike Wilson scooped it up. What he couldn’t do was advance the ball from there. It’s down where the kicking team recovers, but it was still an astounding moment. Foster’s lights might’ve been on, but there was no one home.

The Old Time Football account has a great highlight of that, but watching the live broadcast really hits home how in shock everyone was. Here are the reactions of the Steelers’ sideline: dumbfounded and trying to process what they just saw. The top reaction goes to OC Joe Walton, bottom left corner, robbed of his chance to get his offense on the field and back in the game.

The 49ers made good use of their fortune, RB Tom Rathman punching the ball in from 1-yard out. That put San Francisco up 20-7 and in control the rest of the game, winning 27-7 on another short Rathman touchdown.

After the game, Foster offered an explanation, though it was far from a satisfactory reason.

“I blacked out,” said Foster via The Washington Post. “In a punting situation, obviously, you can let it roll. When I finally realized it wasn’t a punt, it was too late.”

The punt that was actually a kickoff. The close game that became a laugher. Not just at the score but at Barry Foster, who had the longest plane ride of his life that evening.

STEELERS BIGGEST GAFFES

No. 5 – Hey Richard Huntley, The Play Isn’t Over! 
No. 4 – What Are You Doing, Chase Claypool
No. 3 – You Forgot Something, Dave Smith