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By: Connor Deitrich | March 30, 2020
Remembering underappreciated Steelers is a
new series where we will give praise to some of the forgotten or
underappreciated Steelers players in recent years. Some of these guys
definitely didn’t stuff the stat sheet, but they played their role and played
it well. The first installment is Matt Spaeth.
Matt Spaeth isn’t
a player that most non-Pittsburgh Steelers fans around the league will
remember. The tight end spent seven of his nine seasons in the black and gold
(playing the other two for the Chicago Bears). Spaeth wasn’t the kind of tight
end that gets love from the media or most fans. He wasn’t much a receiver, but
he was a great run blocker. He embraced his role and performed very well at it.
Remembering Matt Spaeth
In the 2007 NFL draft, the Steelers
selected Matt Spaeth in the third round with the 77th overall pick. Spaeth was
coming off an All-American, Mackey Award-winning season at Minnesota. He only
recorded five catches on six targets in his rookie season for 34 total yards.
Three of his five receptions went for touchdowns, though, and another for a
first down. That’s the kind of player Spaeth would be his whole career. He
never racked up many yards per reception, but he was reliable in goal-line or short-yardage passing
situations. In fact, ten of his 55 career receptions were touchdowns and an
additional 15 were for first downs. Almost half of his career receptions
resulted in points or moved the chains.
The most memorable moment of Matt
Spaeth’s career (other than becoming a Super Bowl champion) came against the
Baltimore Ravens in 2014. In that game, Ben Roethlisberger set
an NFL record by throwing 12 touchdown passes in a two-game span. Spaeth was on
the receiving end of the record-setting 12th touchdown. Not
only was he part of Roethlisberger’s record, but it was the longest reception
of Spaeth’s career. On 4th and 2 with under two minutes to go, the Steelers
came out in a running formation. Instead, they ran play-action and
Roethlisberger found Spaeth streaking behind the defense for a 33-yard
touchdown. It was Spaeth’s longest career reception by 20 yards and it was great to see how happy
his teammates were for him (and Roethlisberger, of course) following the score.
Playing
alongside Heath Miller, it’s no wonder why Matt Spaeth never got
tons of recognition. Everyone in Steelers nation loved Miller and still do,
years after his retirement. It’s especially hard to get recognition as a tight
end whose only real role is to block. Spaeth worked hard, did his job, and did it well. He was
respected in the locker room and a Super Bowl champion. For all of those
reasons, it’s important to remember Matt Spaeth and the role he played as a
Pittsburgh Steeler.
