Pittsburgh Steelers' CPR-Style Celebration Angers Fans After Damar Hamlin Collapse
The Pittsburgh Steelers were criticized Sunday for an “insensitive” CPR-style celebration after linebacker Alex Highsmith sacked Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.
A TV feed showed a teammate giving Highsmith fake chest compressions just days after the Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin received the real deal on the field when he was in cardiac arrest.
Steelers defense celebrated a sack by performing CPR. Of all weeks… not a great look. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/ZvVPCwS6ya
— Gunz (@TheGunzShow) January 8, 2023
The Steelers won the game, 28-14, but took a beating on social media for the questionable move.
Some people on Twitter noted that the team has acted out the lifesaving maneuver before to mark on-field achievements. And Highsmith himself has been relaying support forHamlin, who played college ball at Pitt and is continuing to recover at a Cincinnati hospital.
But on this occasion, the team’s gesture was in “bad taste,” one tweeter wrote.
i know i didn’t just see a Steelers player giving CPR to Alex Highsmith on a sack celebration…
— Taylor Gadino (@taylorgadino) January 8, 2023
Classless
— Daddy2pops (@Daddy2pops12) January 9, 2023
I'm a lifelong steelers fan but I'm deeply ashamed of this. Totally classless.
— MR.PHOENIX 80 (@Mrphoenix0331) January 9, 2023
Yikes is right
— Jammrow (@jammrow) January 9, 2023
Even if the Steelers “always do this” or not, doing it in the same week that another player almost died and had to have CPR on field is about as insensitive as you can get. pic.twitter.com/jKyrYOY6Da
— Paul Crisp (@pcrispy) January 9, 2023
Steelers picked the woooorrrrst possible week for a CPR celly 🙃 pic.twitter.com/IKkH1qq4QN
— Ace (@Treloar95) January 9, 2023
@NFL@steelers I sure hope you review this exact moment of the game. Can you talk bad taste? Pretending to give a player cpr on the field after what happened last week? You should be disgusted with your team. pic.twitter.com/GRQAUpJDJF
— MoKara21 (@maureen2103) January 8, 2023
