Will Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward be fined this week as a result of his seemingly punching Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert while he was on the ground during the Sunday night game between the two teams? It’s hard to say for sure, but as of Thanksgiving Thursday morning, Heyward has yet to hear from the NFL concerning that incident. During his Thursday media session, Heyward once again addressed him seemingly punching Herbert during the Sunday night game after chasing the quarterback down the field on a long scramble run.
“Yeah, I honestly didn’t even know like what exactly happened,” Heyward explained on Thursday. “Man, I’m never going to try to be a dirty player. I never want anybody to think I am. You know, I was already tired running down there in the first place. I was more ticked-off when I got pulled up because I was trying to catch my breath for a second. But in slow motion, it looks way worse. I honestly was just trying to catch my fall and that’s it.”
Since that Sunday night incident, Heyward has been accused of being a dirty player on social media. He has obviously seen a lot of those accusations since Sunday night and commented on them on Thursday during his weekly media session.
“Yeah, I never want to be looked at as a dirty player, but I can’t change anybody’s opinion,” Heyward said. “You know, that’s their opinion. I’m gonna go out there, play my best for my team and stay focused on the task at hand.”
Heyward said on Thursday that he has tried to reach out to Herbert since Sunday night to apologize for what happened Sunday night.
“I reached out on my Instagram, I haven’t heard back,” Heyward said. But, man, they’re more focused about other things. And he’s a heck of a player. I have a lot of respect for him and if I do get a chance to reach out in person at some time, I will.”
We’ll now wait and see if the NFL reaches out to Heyward in the form of a fine. Heyward’s history shows that he obviously isn’t known for being a dirty player. In fact, he’s drawn just three unnecessary roughness penalties so far during his long NFL career. The last time Heyward was fined by the NFL was in 2015, and that was for a uniform violation.
