Early in the second quarter of the AFC North battle on Monday Night Football between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, star Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick came flying downhill to put a hit on Cleveland running back Nick Chubb inside the 5-yard line.
Fitzpatrick did his job, taking Chubb’s legs out to try and get the big, physical back on the ground.
The only issue was that Chubb’s left leg was planted in the turf at Acrisure Stadium and absorbed all of the contact from Fitzpatrick at the knee. The tackle from Fitzpatrick led to a devastating injury for Chubb. The four-time Pro Bowler tore multiple ligaments and suffered a dislocated knee in horrific fashion, leading to him being carted off the field, ending his season and potentially putting his career in question.
The tackle from Fitzpatrick, though legal and exactly what the league wants defenders to do now to avoid head injuries, has been criticized as a dirty one from media members and fans across the league. That’s irked Fitzpatrick, who defended the tackle Thursday during a session with the media inside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex locker room.
“Very unfortunate … It’s a tough injury. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game that we play. You know, people are going to say I had ill will behind the tackle. That’s not the case whatsoever. I’m a guy that’s a competitor that’s gonna go out there and play the game. I’m chippy, I’m edgy, of course, but I’m not a dirty player,” Fitzpatrick said to reporters, according to video via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski. “I’m not gonna sit here and defend my character. I know the type of player I am, Chubb knows the type of player I am. I’ve played against him the past five years, two times a year and I love competing against him. He brings the best outta me, and I bring the best outta him. No chance that I there would try and purposely injure somebody.
“It was an unfortunate event. We play a physical game and people get hurt and people could sit by a screen and tell me how I should’ve done it or what they would’ve done, and they never played the game. It’s a fast game and things happen and, like I said, it’s an unfortunate event and I’m praying for Chubb. I talked to him briefly, uh, as he was on the ground and just let him know he wasn’t intentional. I was just trying to tackle him, make [a] football play.”
Fitzpatrick was asked a follow-up about the play, saying he decided well before contact to go low on Chubb in order to take down a bigger back near the goal line. Chubb is one of the largest and most physical runners in football.
“I made the decision as soon as I seen the hole open up and him in the hole to go low…there’s nothing I really would do differently,” he said via NFL Network’s James Palmer.
Based on the rule changes in recent years, what Fitzpatrick did is what the NFL wants to see more of, right or wrong, to avoid head injuries. The rules have made it harder and harder to play defense. It’s a star-driven, offensive league at this point, so of course losing a star like Chubb to a devastating injury is awful to see.
But calling the play dirty from Fitzpatrick and questioning his character is downright ridiculous. That’s a play Fitzpatrick has made thousands of times in his NFL career. His job is to get the ball carrier on the ground. He did that against Chubb in that instance, hitting him head on and chopping his legs out from underneath him.
That’s how it’s always been taught when going against a bigger, more powerful back like Chubb. If Fitzpatrick went high, chances are Chubb runs right through him for the score and a Browns lead. Fitzpatrick did his job. There is no chance he went into that hit aiming to blow out Chubb’s knee and put his career in jeopardy.
Silly to think otherwise, and downright ridiculous that Fitzpatrick has to answer questions and defend the type of person he is for a football play.
