JuJu Smith-Schuster spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played a major part in their offense as one of their top wide receivers.
He recently reflected on what he believes was one of his biggest moments with the team, and it had nothing to do with him catching passes. It was instead a controversial block he made on Vontaze Burfict in a 2017Â game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
JuJu Smith-Schuster Comments on Controversial Vontaze Burfict Hit
The Steelers and Bengals have a long-time bitter rivalry stemming from their place in the AFC North division. Things got physical, and sometimes even nasty, in the mid-2010s era when both teams were legitimate playoff contenders.
Smith-Schuster had a notorious play when the two teams faced off during his rookie year in the 2017 season. He landed a violent blind-side block on Burfict that resulted in the defender being carted off the field. He recently talked about this controversial moment during an appearance on the “Not Just Football” podcast.
“A legendary moment in my career. To this day, people still talk about it. That’s just me sticking up for my teammate and playing aggressive football. That whole week, free food everywhere I went,” explained Smith-Schuster.
The teammate he is referring to is Antonio Brown, who was infamously knocked out of a playoff game between the Steelers and Bengals with a concussion. The hit was delivered by Burfict, and the superstar wide receiver was also forced to miss their next game as he recovered from the injury.
Smith-Schuster claims his hit was payback for the incident, though he also joked that he didn’t know it was Burfict when he initially delivered it. The illegal block, for which he was flagged and fined, came on a play after Le’Veon Bell caught a screen pass. The linebacker was carted off the field and into the locker room for further evaluation of his concussion.
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He was apparently celebrated for the hit, including his admitting that he got free food from several restaurants in the Pittsburgh area after the game. Burfict has a long-established reputation of being a violent player and has often been criticized for playing the game dirty as well. This likely contributed to why the injury was controversially celebrated.
Smith-Schuster has since moved on from the Steelers and currently plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. He gives their wide receivers depth, and while he is no longer the superstar he was in Pittsburgh, he ranks 45th on PFSN’s Impact Rankings for the position this year, proving he still makes valuable contributions.
