Getty One of Mike Tomlin's defenders for the Pittsburgh Steelers apologized after receiving backlash for a sack celebration in Week 18.
The Pittsburgh Steelers recorded 7 sacks in the season finale against the Cleveland Browns in Week 18, but it was a sack from Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith that received all the attention.
After Highsmith took down Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson in the final minute of regulation, Steelers defensive DeMarvin Leal joined Highsmith in a celebration, where Leal gave Highsmith fake chest compressions while the linebacker lay flat on the ground. The celebration reminded fans on social media of the horrific Damar Hamlin incident, which resulted in the Buffalo Bills safety needing CPR on the field for several minutes before he then spent several days in hospital in critical condition.
The day after the season finale, Highsmith apologized for his role in the celebration.
“I just don’t want people to think of me that way and think I was doing anything [intentional],” Highsmith told Brian Batko of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Because I would never, ever, ever, ever want to do that intentionally, and I never ever would do that.”
Fans Rip Steelers for CPR Sack Celebration on Social Media
Highsmith told Batko that he was too tired to notice a connection between his celebration and the Hamlin incident immediately after the play. Again, the celebration was near the end of the game, and the linebacker played 62 snaps. That was his most in a game since Week 6.
But Highsmith realized his blunder following the game after the celebration went viral on Twitter.
The Steelers received major backlash for the sack celebration from fans.
@steelers sack celebration today… totally trashy. If you missed it, they were fake giving CPR to their teammate….. #BillsMafia
Classless Steelers with the CPR celebration
With 2.5 sacks in Week 18, Highsmith finished the 2022 season with 14.5 sacks and led the NFL with 5 forced fumbles.
It was clearly a breakout year for the 25-year-old linebacker. In his first two seasons combined, Highsmith had 8.0 sacks and 1 forced fumble.
For some fans, though, Highsmith will now be remembered as the defender who did the CPR sack celebration.
Highsmith Sends Love to Hamlin
In addition to apologizing, Highsmith delivered kind words through the media for Hamlin and his family on January 9.
“I just want people to know that I have nothing but love for Damar and his family,” Highsmith told Batko. “When that happened, I was shook for a couple days. Me and my wife, we were watching the game, we immediately saw it and intentionally started praying, intentionally prayed for him, his parents, the doctors, the nurses.
“Because me and her, we’re both followers of Christ. We both believe that prayer is powerful, and I’m just thankful for the miraculous work God has done with Damar’s life. I just want people to know that there was nothing intentional about that. It was never planned, none of that.”
There’s no doubt the sack celebration shouldn’t have been done. But it’s also pretty clear that Highsmith, who is Pittsburgh’s nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, which the NFL gives annually to the player “who best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition” didn’t intent to make a connection to Hamlin with the celebration.
It was a mistake, and Highsmith owned up to it.