Pittsburgh Steeler players are facing backlash after a tasteless on-field celebration.
During Sunday's game, linebacker Alex Highsmith sacked Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson—absolutely a moment to celebrate. However, to say the way it was done was in poor taste in an understatement.
A teammate proceeded to administer fake chest compressions to Highsmith who remained on the ground after the tackle, not even a week after Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Footballgame and received on-field CPR to save his life.
\u201cSteelers defense celebrated a sack by performing CPR. Of all weeks\u2026 not a great look. Yikes.\u201d— Gunz (@Gunz) 1673214797
Though many claim the team has used the same actions for celebrations all season, most are chiming in on Twitter it is still "insensitive" and "classless."
\u201ci know i didn\u2019t just see a Steelers player giving CPR to Alex Highsmith on a sack celebration\u2026\u201d— Taylor Gadino (@Taylor Gadino) 1673212036
\u201c@TheGunzShow Classless\u201d— Gunz (@Gunz) 1673214797
\u201c@TheGunzShow Yikes is right\u201d— Gunz (@Gunz) 1673214797
\u201c@TheGunzShow I'm a lifelong steelers fan but I'm deeply ashamed of this. Totally classless.\u201d— Gunz (@Gunz) 1673214797
\u201cPoor timing is an understatement\n\n#Steelers \nhttps://t.co/d4jmgHaKlX\u201d— Whiskey Riff (@Whiskey Riff) 1673292439
\u201cEven if the Steelers \u201calways do this\u201d or not, doing it in the same week that another player almost died and had to have CPR on field is about as insensitive as you can get. \u201d— Paul Crisp (@Paul Crisp) 1673223236
\u201cClassless Steelers with the CPR celebration\u201d— Ben Tylka (@Ben Tylka) 1673212256
\u201cSteelers picked the woooorrrrst possible week for a CPR celly \ud83d\ude43\u201d— Ace (@Ace) 1673244796
\u201c@NFL @steelers I sure hope you review this exact moment of the game. Can you talk bad taste? Pretending to give a player cpr on the field after what happened last week? You should be disgusted with your team.\u201d— MoKara21 (@MoKara21) 1673213637
While the Steelers won the game, people definitely wouldn't call it a public relations victory.
In much, much better news, Damar Hamlin was released from ICU in Cincinnati and transferred to a hospital near his home in Buffalo.
\u201cGrateful for the awesome care I received at UCMC. Happy to be back in Buffalo. The docs and nurses at Buffalo General have already made me feel at home! \ud83c\udfe9\ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffe.\u201d— \ud835\udc03\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2b \ud835\udc07\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc27 (@\ud835\udc03\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2b \ud835\udc07\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc27) 1673296232
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC