Top 3 Greatest Catches the NFL Has Ever Witnessed
In a football scoreboards feature, we take a look at the 3 biggest catches in NFL history. It is difficult to dub a particular game as the greatest ever played in NFL history, but some games are extremely close and are balancing on a knife’s edge. It is often such games, when a player pulls off a remarkable play, that become etched into everyone’s memory.
American football is all about ability, agility and the courage to take risks when your team needs it the most. For certain positions, a big part of football is catching the ball, sometimes from right under the opponent’s nose. Here are the 3 players that displayed the full extent of their ability and courage to snatch the ball in the most difficult of situations:
1. Lynn Swan – in the 1976 Super Bowl, in a match between Pittsburgh and Dallas, Lynn Swan made what is largely claimed to be the greatest catch in NFL history. The football scoreboards showed that Lynn Swan caught a 53 yard pass thrown to him by the quarterback Terry Bradshaw. He took the catch with two opponents right on his tail by first tipping the ball into the air and then diving to catch the ball.
2. Santonio Holmes – in February 2009, Santonio Holmes, the Pittsburgh receiver, caught an impossible catch and gave the Steelers a 27-23 victory over Arizona in the Super Bowl. He caught a 6-yard diving catch in the end zone with only 35 seconds left on the clock. Santonia Holmes managed to squeeze himself at the back of the end zone behind 3 Arizona defenders and catch the pass thrown by Ben Roethlisberger. The ball was quickly heading out of bounds and Holmes had to make sure that at least some part of his foot was touching the ground when he made the catch, and then worry about landing within bounds with the ball. Despite the seemingly impossible situation, Holmes was able to make the catch, putting his feat down in history as one of the greatest catches in a Super Bowl game.
3. Antonio Bryant – the game was being played between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers, when Antonio Bryant made a jaw dropping catch for the Tamps Bay Buccaneers. Antonio was in the end zone when his quarterback, Jeff Garcia, threw a slightly off-the-mark pass (considering he was being tackled) which is why Antonio had to adjust himself and take a left-handed catch while leaning to his fullest extent.
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