We already know that Cincinatti Bengals linebacker Vontzae Burfict spit Pittsburgh Steelers guard David DeCastro during Saturday night’s AFC Wild Card game but apparently there was a second spitter.
In his weekly appearance on 93.7 The Fan, fellow Steelers guard Ramon Foster said that Burfict wasn’t the only Bengals player to spew saliva.
“He wasn’t the only guy,” Foster said. “I will say that he had another culprit out there with him.”
According to DeCastro, Burfict spit on the guard after he pancaked him in the end zone at the end of a play and Foster has no reason to doubt his teammate.
“For somebody like DeCastro, who’s a guy that doesn’t say a whole lot, to kind of speak out about it, I think you have to believe him,” Foster said. “And you have to feel for a guy that had that happen to him.”
While there’s no visual evidence of Burfict spitting on DeCastro, it wouldn’t be overly surprising if he did it. The Bengals linebacker has a history of dirty play and illegal hits, one of which took place late in the game Saturday night that injured Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who is currently still in concussion protocol as a result.
On Monday, Burfict was suspended for the first three games of the 2016 season for being a repeat offender and while he plans on appealing that punishment, he’ll still likely have to miss at least two games after his hearing takes place.
As for who the second spitter was, we can only guess, but one could easily speculate that it was Bengals cornerback Adam Jones or defensive lineman Wallace Gilberry.
“The sport of football wasn’t designed for that,” Foster said. “Is it a gruesome game? Is there a thin line between, you know, going over the top and playing the right way? Yeah, it is, but you have to understand that you have to be smart enough to realize that you can’t do those things on the football field, and especially in a prime-time game like that, and against some guys you’re going to see at least twice a year, anyway.”
Needless to say, the rivalry between the Steelers and Bengals is alive and well right now thanks to all that transpired in the three meetings between the two teams this year and there’s no reason to think that there won’t be some carryover to the two annual meetings that will take place in 2016. We won’t know for some time if Burfict will play in the first of the two as the schedule wont come out until April or early May.
