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Steelers’ George Pickens Reaches Back for OBJ-Esque Grab

The rookie wide receiver left football fans speechless with his one-handed catch on Thursday night.

Madison Williams

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Steelers rookie George Pickens caught a pass from quarterback Mitch Trubisky with just one hand on Thursday night vs. the Browns.

The play wowed football fans, especially since the ball seemed nearly impossible to catch. Next Gen Stats reported that the pass had a 33.7% chance of being caught.

The 36-yard pass helped the Steelers move down the field and eventually score their first touchdown of the game, courtesy of Najee Harris.

Pickens’s highlight went viral on social media shortly after he completed the catch. Fans who watched the play live even went back to continue rewatching in disbelief.

Fans and NFL stars quickly saw the similarities of Pickens’s catch with an infamous one-handed catch from Odell Beckham Jr. back in 2014. Beckham Jr.’s catch as a rookie put him in the NFL spotlight, and that catch is still synonymous with his name.

The Amazon Prime broadcast even compared Beckham Jr.’s catch to Pickens’s.

Beckham Jr. himself even commented on an image of his infamous catch alongside the Steelers wide receiver’s catch.

Some fans and players saw Pickens’s catch as a one-of-a-kind play.

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For more Pittsburgh Steelers coverage, go to All Steelers. 

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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