Michael Pittman Jr. had never experienced something like this before, with Steelers safety Damontae Kazee veering toward his head and knocking him to the ground last Saturday.
He “barely” remembers the hit, which resulted in Kazee getting suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season, but Pittman realized the severity of the moment — “maybe this was bad,” he recalled thinking — when his wife and daughter both entered the Colts’ locker room crying after their victory against Pittsburgh.
“I honestly never saw him coming,” Pittman told reporters Thursday. “I was diving, I caught it, and then all of a sudden, I woke up and there’s people looking down at me. I was like, ‘Oh, s–t, what just happened?”
Still, Pittman felt bad about the NFL suspending Kazee, a ban that includes the postseason if the Steelers clinch a spot.
He thought the Steelers were “head-hunting,” but that didn’t mean Kazee, a 30-year-old and former fifth-round pick in 2017, was trying to jeopardize Pittman’s career with a gruesome hit and injury.
“I don’t think he was trying to paralyze me,” Pittman said, “but I don’t think it was a legal hit.”
Midway through the second quarter, as Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew threaded a deep pass across the middle of the field, Kazee crushed Pittman as he extended in an attempt to catch the ball.
Pittman, who remained down before eventually walking off the field, didn’t return due to the concussion.
Kazee, with five other fines totaling over $59,000 already handed to him in 2023, was suspended.
And despite the punishment from the league, former NFL players Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski supported Kazee — with Brady blaming Minshew for a poor throw and Gronkowski labeling it a “football play.”
“I don’t think [Kazee] meant to try to impose life-changing injury,” Pittman said. “I don’t think any player has that in them. And you never want to see guys lose games and lose that and just like much money. I don’t think that he was trying to do that. He has a family, too, and I know that’s a hefty fine.”
Kazee will lose $208,332 by not playing in the Steelers’ final three regular-season games against the Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens, according to Spotrac.
Pittman, though, has already cleared concussion protocol and remains on track to play Sunday against the Falcons, when the Colts will aim to secure their sixth win in seven games and Pittman will look to add to his 1,062 receiving yards this season.
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