JuJu Smith-Schuster calls hit that concussed Vontaze Burfict 'legendary moment in career'
During an appearance on the "Not Just Football With Cam Heyward " podcast ahead of the NFL Week 11 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, current Kansas City Chiefs and former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster boasted about his 2017 hit of former Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict that concussed Burfict.
"(It was) a legendary moment in my career. To this day people still talk about it," Smith-Schuster said on the longtime Steelers' defensive lineman's podcast . "That's just me sticking up for my teammate and playing aggressive football. That whole week, (I got) free food everywhere I went."
Smith-Schuster also joked that he didn't know it was Burfict he hit until after the play, and added that his teammates never helped him pay the large fine he was assessed as they had promised him.
Mark Kaboly reported in 2020 that the Bengals entered a Monday Night Football win against the Steelers in Cincinnati intending to "put some big hits" on Smith-Schuster because some on the team "still harbored bad feelings" from Smith-Schuster's hit on Burfict.
Smith-Schuster mimicked his taunting of Burfict days later as he helped a teammate celebrate a touchdown.
Former Bengals defensive back Vonn Bell was quoted before his 2020 hit that forced Smith-Schuster's fumble as saying Smith-Schuster's dancing on logos before games is "kind of disrespectful," and that the goal should be to "go out there between the lines ... and hit him and let him know where he stands."
"For the betterment of myself and my teammates, I'm going to stop dancing on the logos," Smith-Schuster told reporters. "For me, honestly, I was dancing when we were undefeated. I was dancing when we lost our three games. I'm not going to change the person who I am. I think it's getting to the point where my teammates are being asked this question. Our coach is being asked this question."
Antonio Brown , Smith-Schuster's teammate when Burfict was concussed in 2017, called it "karma" afterward. Burfict had knocked Brown out of the Steelers' 18-16 AFC Wild Card Playoff win against the Bengals in Jan. 2016. Brown missed the next game, but Burfict told ESPN that he thought Brown faked that injury.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: JuJu Smith-Schuster calls hit that concussed Vontaze Burfict legendary
