Former Steelers Player Proven Innocent In Gruesome On Field Scuffle With Maxx Crosby From 2021

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Las Vegas Raiders (formerly Oakland) have played many historic games against one another, with the most iconic being the 1972 Divisional Round game which featured the Immaculate Reception. On the other end of the spectrum is the 2021 regular season matchup which the Raiders won by a score of 26-17. The game featured some fireworks, as former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Turner was ejected and penalized for trying to spit on a Raiders player. 

Steelers Former Lineman Doesn't Seem To Be At Fault For 2021 Spat With Maxx Crosby

The Raiders and the Steelers do not like one another, so games between the two are always bound to get a little chippy. During the 2021 regular season, the two teams squared off in Week 2, and Turner was forced to exit the game early after an altercation on the field with Maxx Crosby and the rest of the Raiders' defense. Turner was ejected for trying to spit on a Raiders' defender. This was surrounded with controversy as Turner and Head Coach Mike Tomlin swore he was spit on first, and was simply retaliating. 

Crosby set the record straight on a recent episode of his podcast, The Rush. During the episode, they had Taylor Lewan on and he re-shared his story of spitting on TJ Watt, which inspired Crosby to come clean about the 2021 innocent.

"I spit on a Pittsburgh Steeler. It was a former O-Lineman, you know, he's not in the league anymore. Talking, just chirping the whole game. He's known for that. He was kind of past his prime at this point. But we're getting into it, I'm talking my sh*t he's talking his sh*t. They throw a little check down to Najee Harris, he's running, already down the sideline. I turn around, and this dude is barking at me as I run to the ball, I feel a head-butt from behind, and it's the dude that was chirping. I was ready to tee off, but the only thing I could have done in that moment was spit in his f**king face."

Crosby made it sound like Turner certainly started the trash talk and the antics on the field, but Crosby took it to the next level by spitting in Turner's face. This made Turner retaliate, as he ran after Crosby trying to spit in his face. This led to a scuffle on the field for which Turner received a 15-yard penalty and an ejection from the contest. The Raiders also received a 15-yard yard penalty for the scuffle, which caused the penalties to offset. 

Unlike Lewan, Crosby didn't seem too apologetic for his actions. Turner definitely antagonized this kind of reaction, but Crosby crossed a line by spitting in his face after the play. He went into detail about what happened after he spit in Turner's face, and discussed what ultimately led to Turner being thrown out of the game. 

"He f**king set off. He comes running after me, whatever. They literally had it in slow motion, they had him hawking a loogie across the field. He's trying to fight me, run through all of his teammates, they kick him out of the game, and I'm like 'I didn't do sh*t'. Then I hear from another teammate that he is looking for me. I'm like you're the one that started the whole thing, if you wanted to do something you should have looked me face to face and did it."

This is another prime example of the player that retaliates being the one that gets punished. Turner was certainly validated in reacting the way he did to being spit on, but since the officials didn't see Crosby spit in his face, Turner got the brunt of the punishment. After the game, Tomlin explained that he tried to tell the officials that Turner is a veteran, and he wouldn't of acted the way he did had something not happened. This was to no avail, as Turner was still disqualified.

Turner wound up only playing one season for the Steelers, despite being one of their best offensive linemen during the 2021 season. He is likely most remembered as a Steeler for this incident against the Raiders, but at least now it is confirmed that his actions weren't without good reason. If anything, both he and Crosby should have been thrown out of the game but the referees did not see Crosby ignite the fight between the two.

What do you think of Crosby's story? Let us know in the comments below!

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