Watch: Panthers' Ihmir Smith-Marsette burns former team with 79-yard punt return TD
While most thought the Carolina Panthers clash with the Chicago Bears on "Thursday Night Football" might be a revenge game for star D.J. Moore, everyone forgot about another wideout.
Panthers receiver and returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette victimized his former squad, returning a punt 79 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
A third-year player, Smith-Marsette may have even predicted his big moment, taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier in the week to vent frustrations over being "overlooked."
Smith-Marsette played part of the 2022 season with the Bears, suiting up for six games, catching one of four targets for 15 yards while recording one kick return for 17 yards.
A fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Iowa, Smith-Marsette has jumped around early in his career. After spending his rookie year with the Vikings, Smith-Marsette split 2022 with the Bears and Kansas City Chiefs before joining the Panthers last offseason.
Through 24 career games, Smith-Marsette had six receptions for 131 yards and two scores as a receiver, but Thursday's huge special teams play was his first career punt-return touchdown. He joins Los Angeles Chargers' Derius Davis, New York Jets' Xavier Gipson, Cincinnati Bengals' Charlie Jones and New Orleans Saints' Rashid Shaheed as the only players to return a punt for a touchdown this season.
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