Former NFL Linebacker Vontaze Burficit Admits To Intentional Dirty Play Against Pittsburgh Steelers.

Former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is disliked by a large subset of NFL fans, if not the majority of NFL fans. He is widely regarded as one of the dirtiest players in league history.

Prior to his junior season at Arizona State, Burfict was considered one of the best players available at his position in the 2012 NFL Draft. However, inconsistent play, a poor showing at the Combine and off-the-field concerns saw him go undrafted.

Tony Pauline of Sports Illustrated referred to him as “a loose cannon on and off the field.”

In the end, Vontaze Burfict’s seven seasons with the Bengals and one season with the Raiders fit exactly into that story. His career was marred by dirty play, despite the fact that he led Cincinnati in tackles as a rookie and was selected to the second team of the All-Pro team in his second season.

For 14 different occurrences, the 6-foot-1, 255-pound linebacker received a total of 22 game suspensions, missed out on almost $5.3 million in fines, and had his salary forfeited.

His first suspension followed what is regarded as his most notorious hit to date. In a wild card game in 2015, Burfict and Antonio Brown went head to helmet.

The great majority of the penalties were related to matches with Pittsburgh. That seems unlikely to have been a coincidence.

Vontaze Burfict was going head-to-head.
Burfict reportedly acknowledged that, during a broadcast with well-known video game streamer “Sketch,” he had deliberately used violence and foul language against the AFC North rivals. Where most people would have painted him as a villain, he seemed to take pride in all of the unpleasant situations.

Burfict knew what he was doing. One of the biggest villains in NFL history was targeting players on the Steelers after the play on purpose.

It wasn’t a situation where he did not control his body or neglected to pull up before laying a big hit after the whistle. It was intentional.