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.
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 for Hamlin, 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.
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