While the heyday of the rivalry/beef between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders is way in the past there have still been flare-ups and tension between the two teams. One came a few seasons go, in 2021 when former Steelers G Trai Turner got ejected from the Raiders and Steelers Week Two match-up for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after spitting on Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders.
However, that as not even close to the end of it, as Raiders EDGE Maxx Crosby explained recently on his YouTube channel. After the game it came out that Crosby spit on Turner, something he admitted on the podcast, but Turner’s beef with Crosby has apparently never been quashed.
“I spit on a Pittsburgh Steeler,” Crosby said, referencing Turner. “I’m talking my shit, he’s talking his shit. They throw a little check down to Najee Harris, boom, he’s running already down the sideline, taking off. I turn around and this dude’s barking at me as I’m running to the ball. I fucking feel a headbutt like from behind. Boom. I get cracked in the back of my head and it’s this dude who’s been chirping. So I looked him in the face and I fucking was ready to tee off.”
Crosby was angry, and all he could do to defend himself with the ref in his face was spit at Turner.
“I stopped myself and the only thing I could have done in that moment was spit in his fucking face. ‘Cause the ref is staring at me, like the ref’s right here looking at me. So I just, *spit sound* and he fucking set off. So he comes running after me, whatever. They literally had in slow motion, they had him hawking a loogie across the field. He’s trying to fight me, run through all his teammates. They kick him outta the game. And I’m like, ‘I didn’t do shit, I didn’t do shit. No idea, I didn’t do shit.'”
Crosby said that he heard from teammates afterward that Turner was looking for him and was still upset over the incident.
The game Crosby is mentioning is a Raiders 26-17 victory in the 2021 season, Turner’s only season as a Steeler. While Crosby may have won the battle that day, getting the win and avoiding being penalized and ejected for his spitting, he did not get away unscathed. Crosby was eventually fined $6,971 for his part in the scuffle.
Above is the video of Turner “hawking a “loogie.” Turner was not as discreet as Crosby and as such received a much heftier punishment of $15,450 for his unsportsmanlike action throughout the play. However, it is very understandable why Turner was bent out of shape and apparently still wants to fight Crosby. Getting spit on is super disrespectful, and Crosby was having a great game, totaling five quarterback hits, two tackles and one tackle for a loss.
For Crosby and the Steelers, there aren’t too many offensive players on Pittsburgh who remain from that game, yet one of them is Chukwuma Okorafor In the Steelers-Raiders game this season, Crosby was caught yanking on the league of Okorafor something that resulted in a penalty and a fine. As seen in the video above of Turner spitting, Okorafor was directly involved in a scuffle between Steelers and Raiders players so there certainly could still be bad blood between him and Crosby.
Turner did not play in the NFL last season as he was on injured reserve. He tore his biceps briefly after signing with the New Orleans Saints, so he isn’t officially retired. There is a chance that Turner could end up on the field again with Crosby, but it does seem as if his career is likely over at this point.
Crosby still remembers the situation well, and this is the first time he admits that he spit on Turner. He denied he did so while appealing his suspension after the play happened, but a few years removed from the situation and Crosby is fine admitting that he was the one who spit first. He’s adamant that Turner started the incident by chirping and hitting Crosby from behind, but now we at least know that Crosby was indeed the one who spit first.
