PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Away from the team for three weeks, Steelers safety Damontae Kazee returned from his NFL suspension, cleared to play this week.
“I got my job back,” Kazee said. “It was good to see everyone here.”
The NFL suspended Kazee for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts receiver Michael Pittman. The seventh-year safety said he went to New York to talk to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to explain what happened.
“It was the position I was in,” Kazee explained about the play. “He threw the ball. He dove for it. As a defender I’m trying to knock the ball out.”
Instead there was contact to the head and the NFL suspended Kazee for the rest of the season, later to amend it to the rest of the regular season. They may have thought with the Steelers 7-7 after the Colts game, it wouldn’t matter.
“I don’t think I should have been suspended,” Kazee said. “We (himself and Goodell) had an understanding up there. I knew why I got suspended. It wasn’t for the penalties this year, it was for my NFL career.”
Kazee said it won’t change the way he plays because he believed he had already changed. He is proud of the good, form tackles this season. What the league told Kazee was they understood his argument, but at the end of the day it was about protecting him. It wasn’t about the helmet-to-helmet.
It was about protecting Kazee.
So the 30-year-old watched as his position group dealt not only with his suspension but a crucial injury to Minkah Fitzpatrick, along with back-up Trenton Thompson. And they won three straight and got in the playoffs.
“They did a terrific job,” Kazee said. “Coach T preaches that all the time, next man up. That’s how I got my name in the NFL. When Keanu Neal went down when I played for Atlanta. I got my chance to go out and play, got seven interceptions that year.”
“I would have changed nothing if I’m in. The defense is good. The offense is good. We made it here, in the playoffs. Now just have to win.”
And whether that means he plays only special teams, Kazee said it doesn’t matter. Wherever he plays and however much he plays, he’s glad to be back with his teammates. He added when he’s in there, he’ll be around the football.
It was tough to have to watch the games, and probably as impactful, not being able to be around his teammates at practice or meetings.
“You always want to go out there and battle with your brothers,” Kazee said. “It was kind of hard for me, but got over it.”
Now he’s back, Fitzpatrick may return and they can trust Eric Rowe and Patrick Peterson back there as well. With TJ Watt likely out, they can use all help and Kazee is ready to be a part of it.