In recent years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have suffered several brutal collapses. Last year brought another example, with the Steelers dropping the AFC North crown over the final few weeks of the season. Just as heartbreaking was 2018 when the Steelers losing four of their final games. That started with a Week 12 loss to the Denver Broncos. Pittsburgh had numerous gaffes throughout that game. Former Steelers tight end Xavier Grimble hasn’t forgotten his big fumble out of the end zone that day.

“A player like me, a third, second-string tight end, that would’ve probably been the difference in me scoring three touchdowns that year versus one or two,” Grimble said recently on his podcast, The Athlete’s GroupChat. “It sucks for me because it’s football. As I got older, you’re gonna watch everybody on the team have a play like that. But all of it’s not gonna get magnified. You’ve just gotta move on.

“That play still keeps me up at night. When I get real delusional, I be like, ‘If I would’ve jumped over him, I’d still be playing.’ Rule of thumb, young guys: don’t relax. That’s what happened. I relaxed for a split second, and it happened so fast. I be thinking about like, ‘What kind of mind frame was you even in?’”

Grimble’s fumble came on the first play of the second quarter. After catching the ball and running more than 20 yards to the end zone, Grimble let his guard down at the last moment. Safety Will Parks delivered a big hit on him at the goal line, knocking the ball loose. It rolled out of bounds in the end zone, resulting in a turnover. That gave the Broncos the ball and robbed the Steelers of any points on that drive.

While Denver was forced to punt on the following drive, those lost points loomed large in the end. The Steelers lost the game 24-17, so had Grimble scored, thinks might’ve ended differently.

However, it’s not fair to put all of the blame for that loss on him. Grimble wasn’t the only one who made a mistake that day. Before that fumble, Chris Boswell had a 48-yard field goal attempt blocked. James Conner also fumbled the ball to start the fourth quarter when the game was tied. Ben Roethlisberger threw two interceptions, with one coming in the end zone with a minute left in the game.

Therefore, the Steelers lost that game as a team. Grimble’s mistake was costly, but Pittsburgh had other chances to win that game. The Steelers’ bad luck continued after that, dropping their next two games after that Broncos loss.

Unfortunately, like Grimble says, his background afforded him fewer opportunities to make mistakes. An undrafted free agent in 2014, Grimble signed with the Steelers in 2016, getting his first real chance to play in the NFL. He didn’t have a lot of room for error.

Grimble stuck with the team after 2018, but an injury early in 2019 ended his time in Pittsburgh. Scoring that touchdown against the Broncos would’ve been a nice highlight for him, but it’s doubtful that it was the reason why his career ended. He bounced around the league from 2014-2020. For an undrafted free agent, that’s respectable. Grimble shouldn’t let one play take away from his other accomplishments.