Steelers OL James Daniels Slammed Damar Hamlin To The Field After His 4th Quarter Cheap Shot On Kenny Pickett

Daniels immediately shoved Hamlin to the ground after watching the hit transpire, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty. The lineman did not shy away from calling Pickett the new face of the franchise and defended his actions after the play, saying that he was pretty fired up after watching it happen.

“He’s our franchise QB. I was shocked they didn’t throw the flag because I do know there are some other QB’s in the NFL if that same exact situation happened, they easily would have thrown the flag. I was upset.”

Daniels was extremely surprised that there wasn’t a flag thrown after the late hit. He even admitted that it was a no-brainer for him to defend the Steelers signal caller because he was sure they would call a penalty.

“I was upset there was no flag. I didn’t know until after I hit the guy. I thought they threw the flag. I thought it would be offsetting penalties. I didn’t know it would just be on me. It’s unfortunate, it put us third & forever.”

The offense went on to not convert the third down right after and just a couple plays after the hit, missed a 45-yard field goal.

In terms of what head coach, Mike Tomlin thought of the play and questionable no-call, he had an issue that the referees blatantly missed what was absolutely a late hit on the rookie quarterback.

“I had a problem that the officials didn’t have a problem. I had a problem with the fact that it wasn’t officiated the way I anticipated it being officiated.”

The head coach doesn’t have any bad blood for Hamlin, though.

“I love Hamlin. He’s a 412’er. He plays hard. He’s a good kid.”

Pickett also didn’t have an issue with the hit as he and Hamlin are acquaintances off of the field. Plays like that come with the competitive nature of the game.

“I’m fine with Hammy. That’s’s one of my guys. He’ll be one of my friends for a long time. We’re competing. It’s all good.”

It was very good to see Daniels stick up for the young quarterback. That can go a long way in the locker room and give Pickett the confidence that the big guys up front will always have his back. In almost any circumstance, a lineman close by should and would have done the exact same thing. The fifth-year player showed that he cares about the health and safety of the guy leading the offense.