The Pittsburgh Steelers were teetering on the precipice of missing the playoffs due to an impending tie in the final regular season game of the 2021-22 season. If Sunday night’s game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders ended deadlocked, both of those teams would make the playoffs while the Steelers went home.
Daniel Carlson’s 47-yard field goal gave the Raiders a win, sent the Chargers home, and finally secured the final AFC playoff spot for the Steelers.
As a thank you to Carlson, Steelers fans have been making donations to charities Carlson has been affiliated with for making the kick that kept their season alive.
"@steelers please thank your fans who are generously donating to charities I’ve been involved with!” Carlson wrote on his Twitter account. “I’ll add some links below for any others who would like to join in on the fun! PLAYOFFS!!!”
Carlson linked to the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada, the After-School All-Stars of Greater Las Vegas, and the aTeam Ministries, which provides support for families dealing with pediatric cancer.
Fans of the Buffalo Bills made similar efforts to thank Andy Dalton, Tyler Boyd and the Cincinnati Bengals in 2017 as their victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the final week of the season ended their 17-year playoff drought.