Minkah Fitzpatrick doesn’t know what to do anymore. The Steelers Pro Bowl safety had this to say when asked about his personal foul that occurred on Sunday 27-24 loss to the Colts — Pittsburgh’s first loss of the season.
The penalty came late in the third quarter shortly after the Steelers cut the deficit to seven points. Fitzpatrick was flagged 15 yards after he made contact with Colts wideout Adonai Mitchell on a second-and-10 play. The penalty helped the Colts score a touchdown on that drive en route to an upset win over Pittsburgh.
“I thought we were playing football,” a somber Fizpatrick said later, via the Tribune Review. “I don’t know what we’re playing right now. A very different game than what I grew up playing and grew up loving. Can’t hit anybody hard. Can’t be violent. Don’t know what to say anymore. .”
DeShon Elliott, Fitzpatrick’s teammate and fellow safety, had a lot to say about the penalty.
“That was an abomination,” Elliott said of Fitzpatrick’s punishment, via 93.7 The Fan. “I don’t care. That was BS… That was legal. He didn’t do anything malicious. Didn’t even hit him in the head. Hit him right in the shoulder. If anything, he let it go.”
If you haven’t seen it, here’s a look at the play that drew the ire of Pittsburgh’s defensive backs. As you can see, Fitzpatrick did seem to let go after the ball had already flown past Mitchell. But Fitzpatrick was unable to avoid making contact with Mitchell, thus leading to the 15-yard penalty.
Fitzpatrick is right. The NFL made some drastic changes to how the game is played now relative to when Fitzpatrick was growing up. The irony is that while the NFL has implemented rules to improve player safety, it continues to add games to the schedule, which is obviously not good for the players from a health standpoint.
Regardless of how Fitzpatrick or anyone else feels, the NFL is changing, and he and the rest of the league’s players will have to continue to change with it.
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