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PLAYOFF BOUND — For a lot of NFL teams, Sunday’s regular season-finale was the end of the road.
For one former Utah star, that meant that end of a remarkable 16-year career.
We salute those whose season ended on the first weekend of 2017 with the Great Clips of the Week.
Steve Smith Sr.’s emotional retirement speech
It was the worst kept secret in the NFL, but the former Utah wide receiver made official his retirement after 16 years in the league Sunday.
Steve Smith Sr. played his final game with the Baltimore Ravens in a 27-10 loss to the Bengals.
“Yeah, this is it,” Smith said on the field in CBS’ emotional postgame interview. “The legacy is not what you get, but you put inside people and what they put inside of me.
“I’ve got a beautiful wife at home and four kids that need their dad. I need my kids, so I’m going home to Charlotte to be with my family.”
Watch his final on-field postgame interview below.
Steve Smith Sr. tells CBS "that's it" after Ravens final game of the season. pic.twitter.com/EeCg8iHY9j
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) January 1, 2017
Smith retired with 14,731 receiving yards, the seventh-most in NFL history. He also scored 81 total touchdowns.
Chicago quarterback catches touchdown pass
Matt Barkley threw 116 touchdown passes in his four-year career at Southern California, but his NFL career has slowed down with just eight total touchdown passes in spot duty with Philadelphia, Arizona and now Chicago.
So the Bears' signal caller tried something different: catching a TD pass.
🚨🚨 MATT BARKLEY TD CATCH ALERT! 🚨🚨#FeedDaBearshttps://t.co/40admIiix4
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2017
It was a rare highlight for the Bears, though; Chicago lost to Minnesota, 38-10, to end the season at 3-12.
Is this a penalty flag on Clemson?
In college football news, Alabama and Clemson set up a rematch in the College Football Playoff national championship with a pair of semifinal wins over Washington and Ohio State, respectively, in which the losing teams combined for seven points.
But more importantly: what is this Clemson linebacker doing after a tackle?
Illegal touching on Clemson https://t.co/gIJ8yxGEKIpic.twitter.com/bTbH2VSaSH
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) January 1, 2017
We know college officiating is bad, but there was no call made on this play. Really, refs?