The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals have a warlike rivalry and for seven years, Vontaze Burfict was in the middle of it. The former Bengals linebacker was enemy number one for the Pittsburgh fan base after hits on Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell that resulted in significant injuries for the Pittsburgh star players. Burfict said recently that until he showed up, the Bengals acted like they were scared of the Steelers.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster takes a big hit from Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict during a 2018 game.
Burfict joined his former Bengals teammate Adam Jones on his podcast Pacman Jones Keeps Crazy Company to discuss his career accomplishments, and inevitably the heated AFC North rivalry with Pittsburgh was a topic of conversation. Burfict said that it was he and Jones who really worked to help shed the victim role in the feud.
"When I came to the rivalry, the Steelers were like the bullies in Cincinnati," he said. "We were not going for that. We are going to have to toughen up and make sure that we get these division wins. It took a couple of years until we could get it to stick to everybody else on the defense and the offense that we aren't scared."
Burfict said that it wasn't just the players on the team that he felt were bullying him when he was playing for the Bengals. He recalled coming into Pittsburgh on the bus for a game and fans had a stuffed animal with his number 55 jersey hanging from a lamp post. He said he didn't understand how that connected to football, but what it did do was get him ready for the all-out war that is and was Steelers versus Bengals.
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Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger takes a hit from Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict.
Steelers fans will always remember Burfict for his hits that knocked out players from games, but his villainy reached its height during the 2015 season. During Week 8, Burfict was the instigator of a hit that knocked Bell out for the year with a torn MCL and then the Bengals linebacker celebrated to the dismay of the Pittsburgh players. Then when the two teams met again in the AFC Wild Card game, Burfict knocked both Brown and Ben Roethlisberger out of the game. Roethlisberger was able to return after he injured his shoulder, but Brown was ruled out with a concussion. He ended up missing the Divisional game against the Denver Broncos. Burfict was suspended three games to start the 2016 season for his actions in the contest.
Steelers Hated Rival Blames Teammate For Injury To Bell In 2015
In that Week 8 matchup between the Steelers and Bengals in 2015, Roethlisberger lofted a pass to Bell, and as the star running back made his way toward the first down marker, he was met by Burfict. Then Bengals safety Reggie Nelson came in to deliver a second hit high as Burfict was taking Bell to the ground. The result was Bell's knee twisting in a way that a human shouldn't move and a promising season for Pittsburgh's talented do-it-all back was over.
Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
Le'Veon Bell is attended to by a trainer after taking a hit from Cincinnati Bengals Reggie Nelson and Vontaze Burfict.
Burfict insisted at the time and on the podcast with Jones that he had no intention of hurting Bell and that it was just football. He even placed the blame for the injury to the Steelers star firmly on his teammate Nelson who made contact with Bell after him. Burfict tried to explain how he sees this kind of play from a defensive perspective with hits on running backs being a hot topic following the hit by Minkah Fitzpatrick that knocked out Browns running back Nick Chubb.
"As a defender, if you see someone on an offensive player you're going to go try to punch the ball out or watch him go down," he said. "You don't go for a dude's knee when he's already top-down heavy and he can't jump you."
Burfict insists that he was not a dirty player and that he simply played the game with an edge. There have been plenty of Steelers players that have fit into that same category with Ryan Clark and James Harrison as easy examples. Playing with an edge can sometimes take you over the line and Burfict was one of those players throughout his career.
Do you believe Burfict was a dirty player? Would you think differently if he had played for the Steelers? Comment below!
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