Steelers icon Le’Veon Bell calls out ugly hit on Shedeur Sanders - “One of the dirtiest plays I’ve seen”
Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Sheduer Sanders was on the receiving end of a dangerous tackle during his team's 37-21 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, which irked former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell.
Late in the second quarter, Sanders was leading his team down the field trying to help them erase their nine-point deficit. On a pass play, the quarterback managed to escape the pocket and threw a pass downfield to a teammate before Jayhawks' Dean Miller, who was charging at the line of scrimmage at full speed, could tackle him.
However, the defensive end did not pump the brakes and crashed into Sanders' knees headfirst. One of the officials threw a flag, presumably to charge Miller with a roughing the passer penalty, but picked it up after a discussion with the rest of the crew.
Bell called out the defensive end for his horrendous tackle on X, writing:
"One of the dirtiest plays i’ve seen in a long time... Players like this shouldn’t be in the NFL ever, kinda reminds me of someone else."
It's unclear who the former Steelers running back was referring to, but fans on social media believe it's former Cincinnati Bengals star Vontaze Burfict. The linebacker had a reputation for being a dirty player due to his slew of late hits and dangerous tackles.
Bell was among his victims as he suffered a season-ending knee injury after being on the receiving end of an ill-advised hip-drop tackle from Burfict in a regular season game in 2015.
Having suffered a severe injury at the hands of a reckless player, Bell could empathize with Sanders. Fortunately, the quarterback escaped Miller's tackle unscathed. However, he voiced his frustration about the referees not penalizing the defensive end.
Shedeur Sanders tackled: QB questions officials' leniency
In his post-game press conference, Shedeur Sanders was asked about Dean Miller's dangerous tackle on him in the first half, which could have caused a major knee injury if the quarterback had his knees planted on the ground. He did not mince words and called out the officials, saying:
"I just don't know how that's legal. Overall like, I understand that but, you know it is what it is. There's a couple of plays like that."
The other play that Sanders was irked about happened in the second half. After two Jayhawks defenders combined to bring down the quarterback, they seemingly tried to get under his skin by pushing him to the floor and trying to violently strip the ball off his hands despite the play being whistled dead.
Another player intentionally tripped over the Buffaloes star and fell on top of the quarterback. Sanders understandably lost his cool and shoved an official nearby for not throwing a flag.
Despite the Jayhawks' best efforts to thwart Sanders, he had a terrific outing. He completed 23 of his 29 pass attempts for 266 yards and three touchdowns and rushed the ball four times for 26 yards.
However, the Buffaloes' defense had a horrendous night, leading to a 37-21 loss. It was an insult to injury for Colorado's quarterback, who not only had to deal with the Jayhawks' shenanigans but also left Arrowhead Stadium with a loss.