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Browns Player Defends Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick

Another Browns player put aside the rivalry to defend Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Stephen Thompson|
Dec 18, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (39)
Dec 18, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (39) | Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

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Pittsburgh Steelers

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick took some heat last season for a tackle on star Browns running back Nick Chubb, who suffered an ACL injury during the play and was forced to miss the rest of the 2023-24 season.

Caught up in the heat of the Steelers-Browns rivalrly, some fans and even a former player believed it was a dirty play and that Fitzpatrick was intentionally trying to hurt Chubb but Cleveland safety D'Anthony Bell came to Fitzpatrick's defense during an appearance on the "My Dawgs Podcast," saying that he didn't believe the hit was at all malicious.

“I don’t think it was a dirty hit ’cause I don’t think he intentionally tried to do that," Bell said. "A lot of people like fans; they ain’t never been in the position where you are in full pads trying to tackle Nick Chubb. You ain’t never been in that position, going through the hole, and you see Nick Chubb right in front of you. That’s not an easy thing to execute. I think he was just trying to make a tackle on Chubb and it ended up happening. I don’t think it was dirty.”

Fitzpatrick denied that there was anything dirty behind his tackle on Chubb at the time and Browns superstar Myles Garrett defended Fitzpatrick as well, saying his method of tackling Chubb was common for how defensive backs around the league try to take down the bruising tailback.

“Minkah didn't do anything illegal,” Garrett said back in September. “He was playing the game how it’s supposed to be played. It was very unfortunate what happened. Nick getting held up and just planting his foot, the hit, and all that. That’s not unlike what corners around the league do. It’s something that’s very common.”

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general. 

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