Tension was high after the final play between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Both benches cleared for a ugly kerfuffle between the two sides.
Jordan Love had an opportunity to win the game with three seconds left on 2nd-and-10 from the 16-yard-line. He targeted Christian Watson over the middle with a shot to the end zone.
It could not have gone any worse. Damontae Kazee picked off the pass to seal the win for Pittsburgh.
As he took off down the sideline, Steelers players and coaches told him to go down and end the game. Packers offensive lineman Zach Tom was in hot pursuit.
The 6-foot-4, 304-pound tackle met Kazee on the sideline. However, by the time that Tom got his big paws on the safety, his target was well past the white line and out of bounds.
Kazee went flying. Special teams coordinator Danny Smith, a legend, ended up getting ROCKED by his own player as a result of Tom’s shove and hit the ground hard.
At that point, mayhem ensued.
Kazee got up and started swinging on Tom. Pittsburgh’s entire team quickly came over to clear things up, but that only escalated things even further. Meanwhile, Green Bay’s bench cleared as well.
Both teams met near the sideline for a full-blown brawl. Fortunately, the punches mostly died down, but there was a lot of pushing and shoving.
Things eventually settled when the Packers and Steelers were separated by the officiating crew. The game was over and there was nothing more that could be done. Penalties were distributed accordingly, even though they didn’t matter because there was no time left on the clock.
It is possible that Tom could be fined for his hit. It is possible that Kazee could be punished for fighting.