The Pittsburgh Steelers were forced to start seven different safeties in the 2023 season. Most of the attrition was due to injury, but one was because of Damontae Kazee’s suspension following his hit on Michael Pittman Jr. that resulted in an ejection from the Steelers-Colts game.
Pittman has already stated a few times that he doesn’t think the hit was intentional. He had to dive forward for the catch, and Kazee was just trying to make the tackle. It was a scary scene, resulting in a concussion to Pittman, and Kazee was subsequently suspended for the final three games of the regular season.
On a recent podcast appearance, Pittman stated he would treat Kazee no differently after the hit – under one condition.
“I don’t take it personal because I don’t think he was trying to do all that,” Pittman said via The Trenches podcast posted on YouTube. “If he was, and I find out then it’s different, but I don’t think that he was.”
Football is a physical sport. These players know what they are signing up for. More often than not, injuries are just caused by the violent nature of the game, with elite athletes running full speed at each other. There are occasional cases of malice, and the heat of the moment can get the better of players when emotions run high, but for the most part that is not the case.
“I’ll treat him like any other defensive player that’s on the field,” Pittman said. “It won’t be nice, but I ain’t gonna put nothing extra on it.”
The hit was highly controversial, especially after the suspension was handed out. It was initially for the rest of the season and any potential playoff games, but it was later reduced, allow Kazee to play in the Steelers’ Wild Card loss at Buffalo. Defensive players all around the league chimed in, and wondered what they are supposed to do in that situation. The way Pittman dove for the ball, there would have been no avoiding a hit to the head or neck area. The only option is to let him catch the ball and down him on the ground after the fact.
Even then Indianapolis Colts DB coach and former Steelers safety Mike Mitchell chimed in after the suspension, criticizing the rules that are made by “people who’ve never played.”
Nobody wants to see injuries, and with the growing data behind concussions and their long-term effects, the head and neck injuries are rightfully treated with an elevated level of caution. These hits will never be fully eradicated from the sport, but the NFL continues to evolve both with its rules and the safety equipment and technology it uses in the game.
