Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict has a history with dirty plays and illegal hits, and it seems it didn’t take him long to add another line to his ugly résumé in Sunday’s tilt against the Steelers.
On the second play of the game, Burfict appeared to kick Pittsburgh fullback Roosevelt Nix in the helmet.
No penalty was called on Burfict for the kick, which happened well after the play was over and appeared unprovoked and intentional.
Burfict has a history with the Steelers, specifically. He delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Antonio Brown in the playoffs following the 2015 season, was involved in the tackle that ended Le’Veon Bell’s 2015 season, had a controversial hit on Ben Roethlisberger that same year, and refused to shake hands with the team before this game.
The linebacker sat out the first three games of 2016 after that hit on Brown and the first three of 2017 after delivering an unnecessary hit to Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman in the preseason. It’s not hard to imagine him sitting out more games once the NFL has a chance to review this play.
