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.
![](https://www.cbssports.com/images/blogs/mcbriar-fake-punt-PITGB.gif)
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."