Former Pittsburgh Steelers punt returner and much maligned player Gunner Olszewski has started to rebound his NFL career after a horrifically bad tenure in Pittsburgh.

The former All Pro return specialist for the New England Patriots signed with the Steelers ahead of the 2022 season, but quickly lost his job as punt returner after struggling to nail down the basics of the job.

Gunner muffed a critical punt against his old Patriots team in Week 2, which set up New England to capitalize on great field position for a backbreaking touchdown.

In all, he returned just 8 punts for the Steelers in 2022, for a grand total of 55 yards. He returned 3 kickoffs for the Steelers that year as well, totaling 46 yards. Gunner did not return a single punt or kick after Week 7 of that season.

His poor play and struggles at the position he once dominated led to many Steelers fans calling for his release during and even after last season.

However, the Steelers kept him around for the 2023 season, and Gunner survived training camp to be on the team’s active roster to start the year.

Gunner was inactive for Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers, but saw the field the following week against the Cleveland Browns.

Unfortunately for him, that was the game that he toe-tapped as he caught an out-of-bounds kickoff.

In that same game, he got lit up on his only passing target of the game, fumbling the ball as a result and giving possession to the Browns.

He was concussed and missed the next two weeks, but returned in Week 5 for another AFC North matchup, this time against the Baltimore Ravens. Infamously, again, Gunner fumbled a punt return, which was recovered by the Ravens and put the game in jeopardy.

During their bye week, the Steelers waived him, but despite how badly the last year and a half had been for him, he did not have to wait long to find work again. Three days later, the New York Giants signed him to their practice squad, and elevated him to the active roster ahead of their Week 8 matchup against the New York Jets.

In his Giants debut, as their punt returner, Gunner returned 6 punts for 56 yards (9.33 yards per return) in the Giants’ 13-10 loss to the Jets.

He has served as their primary returner since joining New York mid-season. He has returned 13 total punts for the Giants for 119 yards, averaging 9.15 yards per return.

His highest return this season came against the Las Vegas Raiders, when he returned a punt 17 yards.

However, he has still struggled with fumbling. In his Giants debut, he fumbled a punt return out of bounds after a 12-yard return. However, that has happened less than it did with the Steelers this season.

Is that saying much? No, not really, but it’s something for him to build off of.

(Featured photo from the New York Giants)