Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward returned a squibed kickoff at the end of the first half Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and if you missed it, you likely missed the final one of his career.
According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, head coach Mike Tomlin no longer wishes to see Heyward imitate his late father, former NFL running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward.
“I got reprimanded for that,” Heyward said, per the Fittipaldo report. “I won’t let that happen again. I’m falling straight to the ground.”
As you can see in the animated gif below, Heyward has to leap a little in order to field the bouncing kick from Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and he cuts outside to the right hoping to get a block from backup defensive back Antwon Blake.
Heyward should be given credit for having the football nicely secured underneath his right arm, but I doubt Tomlin saw it that way.
In case you are curious, Heyward’s 11 yard return has him just five yards behind wide receiver Antonio Brown for fifth place on the team.
Somewhere, I bet Ironhead approved of his son performance.
