http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/01/ben-roethlisberger-cincinnati-fans-throw-beer-cheer-injury-carted-off-status-sack-bengals-steelers

The Bengals fans were downright disgraceful near the end of this game, when Pittsburgh’s quarterback was injured on a sack. This was an embarrassment to the team, certainly, and to anyone in those stands who did not participate in that idiocy. Regardless of how much you may hate a player, be it by how they are on or off the field, you do not celebrate when any player goes down and is injured on a play. You do not throw debris and trash down at the player as he is being carted off to the locker room due to his injury.

This is downright disgraceful attitude towards the players of the game who go out there and, at the end of the day, want to play the game they love. Yes, of course the players enjoy the revenue they get and the feeling of winning games, but the number of players who make those things a priority are a small minority. And ultimately, regardless of the expectation of injury, this is not a bloodbath event in a coliseum. This is a sport, meant for clean, fun competition. Players are not looking to intentionally cause harm to anyone, be it a teammate or an opponent. This is why rules are in place (albeit too many for a sport like football, in my opinion) to protect these players from serious harm.

We, as humans, are naturally inclined towards violence, part by instinct, and part by society. However, what makes us human is our ability to care for more than just ourselves, and to respect those around us. We emphasize with those who are dealt harm and pain, and mingle with other human beings because of it.

As a Bengals fan (well, Seahawks first, but a big Bengals fan nonetheless), I agree. Cheering when Roethlisberger went down was unreasonably unsportsmanlike, and I was really saddened to see people throwing trash at him.

Not to take away from this, but if we want to talk about unsportsmanlike, we should also include a very illegal hit by Shazier on Bernard (if you watched the game, you know which hit I'm talking about). Obvious helmet-to-facemask contact, which should be an illegal hit instantly, not to mention the whole 'Bernard was unconscious for a good 10 seconds' thing. However, it was Shazier's celebration of the hit that really got me, and Bengals fans everywhere, riled up. I think that Shazier's hit, and celebration afterwards, was why fans cheered when Roethlisberger went down. Not that they were like 'yay, he's out', but more that it seemed like 'karma' (or whatever) for Shazier's hit. Again, distancing myself from that crowd (I'll never celebrate an injured player), but I think this was the motivation.

On the same play, Mike Tomlin challenged the ruling on the field of the Pittsburgh player being down by contact (Shazier's hit caused a fumble, recovered by the Steelers), which isn't unsportsmanlike in itself. However, when he threw the challenge flag, he was staring at the Bengal bench and threw the flag in a more taunting manner than anything else.

All this to say, Cincinnati wasn't the only team at fault.

However, in the interest of being fair, Burfict had a very illegal hit on Antonio Brown as well (later in the game). Burfict was penalized for his hit, while Shazier was not. Burfict hit Brown, a defenseless receiver, in the head while leading with his shoulder. Definitely illegal, as Brown was defenseless.

All this to say, both teams played a very dirty game. I've read so much that the Bengals were the dirty team, but the truth is that both played a game any respectable coach would want to forget. I really do hope for a suspension and/or fine for both Burfict and Shazier, because both earned it.

mrfe : I agree, the entire game was a disrespectful mess.

And yes, I know exactly what call you were talking about. I remember being very opposed to the non-call, because that was blatant targeting.

Tomlin...is Tomlin. He's a very emotional coach overall, so it's likely that the whole tension got to him as well. Not excusing it, but I'm not surprised by it. I'll admit I missed that live, though.

I don't even know what the Bengals did at the end. That was a major mess.

Also, to defend Shazier a little bit at least, I really doubt he was purely celebrating for the injury. Adrenaline does a lot in those situations, and I'm not sure how aware he was that he injured the player with his hit. Not excusing the hit itself, of course, but I can excuse the attitude afterward unless it was clear that he wasn't continuing to do so afterward. Again, it wasn't really what I focused on, since I was livid at the non-call in the first place.

I really don't care what the reason was for celebration, though, ultimately, as I'm sure you don't. It's still an awful thing to cheer for an injury like that, regardless of the team you root for or the players you like/dislike.

Also, that hit on Brown honestly scared me. That hurt to watch live, and then when they replayed it and you saw his eyes blank out on contact...brr...that was some very scary stuff to watch.

TheBWoods15 : Um...

That's a nice story you have there, but that's not exactly the point of this thread. It's just me venting over how disgraceful the behavior was.

SWTerra : Sorry. I got carried away.

I think that it was horrible for the fans to react this way. Even though the teams are bitter rivals, there are things more important than a game of football, albeit in the playoffs. It is not right to cheer when any person gets injured, but even more so when you are talking about a two-time Super Bowl winning Quarterback. I get it that Bengals fans hate Roethlisberger, and I totally understand that as they wouldn't be true fans if they didn't hate him. But to applaud an injury, that just crosses the line. I don't have a dog in this fight, but I wouldn't imagine Bengals fans to be happy if Steelers fans were cheering when Andy Dalton got injured. 

It's sad how a few bad eggs in the crowd can make an entire fanbase look bad. I'm really disappointed in the way that those fans acted, and they should've been thrown out of the stadium right there and then. I understand how angry everyone was after the Shazier hit on Gio, but that doesn't give people the right to do what they did to Ben after he got hurt (even though I hate the guy). That incident, and the immaturity Burfict and Adam Jones showed at the end of the game are some of the most embarrassing moments I've witnessed as a Bengals fan.

gamerforlifeforever2 : I may have forgotten to make it clear in my angry rant late at night, so I'll make sure I clarify it here.

I know it was only a minority of fans who were cheering it, and I truly feel bad that they will be judged like those who actually did cheer. I didn't want to seem unforgiving to the fan base (although I'm sure that's what my original post came out as thanks to my unbridled anger at it), but I just needed to get that off my chest. I would have been angered to no end if it was the Dolphins faithful who did that.

I'm glad that at least one fan on each side has commented on this. I'm glad that there are still plenty of people who realize that this is still, at the end of the day, just a sport, and that standard hospitality and the treatment of those who go out and play are a priority before it.

Sports injuries should be taken seriously no matter how small they are. And those fans did not have a right to do what they did even if Roethlissberger was not injured. I was in the Marching Band in High School, and there would be students around me who would keep talking and mess around, when someone was injured on the field. Some of them would not even put their hand over their heart during the National Anthem so I didn't really expect to be any more polite. But it is despicable to me. What happened at the Steelers/Bengals game was a whole new level of crazy.  Whatever happened to it's just a game? It's not like the world will end if a certain team doesn't go to the Super Bowl. There's a reason why the Steelers won, and it's because God wants right to prevail no matter whether it's a war or a sports game. That's karma for you.

The whole thing was a joke between the way that the players on the field acted and the way the fans reacted. I honestly feel that the players and their immature actions help feed the Bengals fans fury. If the players had acted more professionally, then the fans might have acted better as well.

Both organizations should be embarrassed, but ESPECIALLY the Bengals. To lose a game like that at home in the most Bengals-y way possible then to act like a bunch of immature children really takes away from what would have been a memorable game due to the PLAY ON THE FIELD, but instead will be remembered for all this other craziness.

Please make sure to read the rules of this forum before posting threads in here. It's not allowed to create threads for every single game/team/player. Otherwise there would be a million threads.

https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=69543

There's a reason why there's already a thread created for the NFL season. Please post in there.

https://www.vizzed.com/boards/thread.php?id=89669