Inside Countdown’s feature on Steelers star Brown, Olympic gymnast Retton

In an interview with ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown, famed American gymnast Mary Lou Retton – a 1984 Summer Olympics gold medalist – discusses her reactions to Antonio Brown’s acrobatics.

In the first Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns meeting of the NFL season on Nov. 15, Steelers Pro Bowl wide receiver Antonio Brown capped a 56-yard reception by front-flipping into the end zone for a touchdown.

In Houston, American Olympics gold medalist Mary Lou Retton was watching. A longtime Steelers fan who grew up in West Virginia, Retton judged Brown’s front-flip a “Perfect 10” and said so via Twitter the following morning.

Retton’s admiration for Brown’s front-flip celebration and the wide receiver’s reaction will be featured on ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown (11 a.m. ET). Reported by SportsCenter anchor Jade McCarthy and produced by Dominique Goodridge, the piece features interviews with Brown and Retton, who also “scored” Brown’s touchdown routines as a gymnastics judge would.

“Originally it was actually Jade’s idea to do a feature on Antonio’s flips,” Goodridge said. “We knew we wanted a famous gymnast to score his technique, and when I read the tweet from Mary Lou and the fact that she is a huge Steelers fan, I knew we needed to interview her for the feature. It worked out perfectly.”

Retton’s social media rave about Brown’s Nov. 15 acrobatics.
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@AntonioBrown84 Way to stick that landing! Perfect 10! #SteelersNation

— Mary Lou Retton (@marylouretton) November 16, 2015

During the Countdown interview, Retton played the role of gymnastics judge and scored Brown’s touchdown celebration routines.

ESPN Associate Producer Dominique Goodridge (seated) and camera person Nate Galluppi shot the interview in Houston.

Brown works on his flexibility prior to a Monday Night Football game in San Diego this season.

Years ago, Retton co-starred with anchor Steve Levy in an ESPN “This Is SportsCenter” campaign.