You’ve probably seen or heard by now of the incident from earlier this offseason involving Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool. Truly, I have not done a deep dive on it by any means, but from what I gather, he was involved in some form or fashion in a fight outside of a bar, which included him appearing to kick another individual on the ground.
Needless to say, it’s not a great look for any NFL player to be involved in a bar fight. It’s not a good look for anybody. But it’s especially bad for a young athlete at the start of their career, while they are trying to ‘build their brand’. Perhaps it will serve as a lesson that you can’t count on anything going unnoticed when you’re a public figure.
This is basically the same sentiment that Allegheny County-born Pat McAfee said on his show yesterday when the news came out. While he wasn’t admonishing Claypool, he had a pretty clear opinion about what is expected of NFL players today.
Men have been fighting intoxicated for a long time. But in 2021, if you’re Chase Claypool, you just can’t do it anymore. Back in the day, there have been fights I’ve seen with teammates of mine. I’ve been in fights with teammates of mine. And afterwards, I feel like there’s a respect on both sides. Nowadays, you just can’t do it. everybody’s gonna catch it on film. There’s probably a lawsuit coming on the other side. And that person potentially also has a gun, by the way. In 2021, you just can’t do it anymore. And by the way, that’s for the betterment of everybody.
As former Steelers linebacker Joey ‘The Shot Me In Denver’ Porter can probably tell you, it’s sometimes best just to keep your head down. Even Dwayne Haskins can let Claypool know that you can’t expect to do anything and keep it private.
“Chase Claypool has to understand who he is, where he is”, McAfee said. “You’re not just some guy at Notre Dame anymore. You are now an NFL bigtime playmaker. You cannot put yourself in that situation where our society currently is”.
“Who knows what happened before. I’m not saying he wasn’t defending himself or whatever—you just can’t fucking do it”.
What comes of this remains to be seen. For now, there is no police nor legal involvement. That doesn’t mean that the NFL won’t review this situation and consider the second-year wide receiver for potential discipline. Or nothing at all could happen.
