DECEMBER 20: Kazee’s appeal of his season-long suspension has been deemed successful, at least partially. According to NFL senior vice president of football & international communications Michael Signora, while James Thrash, the hearing officer jointly appointed to the case by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, upheld Kazee’s suspension for the remainder of the regular season, he also ruled that Kazee would be eligible to return to the active roster if the Steelers were to qualify for the postseason. If Pittsburgh fails to make the playoffs, then we have seen the last of Kazee in the 2023 NFL season.
DECEMBER 18: The Steelers will be without Damontae Kazee for the rest of the 2023 campaign, regardless of if the team makes it to the playoffs. The veteran safety has been suspended for the remainder of the year, as noted by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. 
Kazee was ejected for a hit on Colts wideout Michael Pittman Jr. on Saturday. Pittman is now in concussion protocol after Kazee’s most recent hit which was penalized for unnecessary roughness. The 30-year-old’s history in that department was noted in the press release detailing the suspension, and his second season with the Steelers is now set to come to a premature end.
Kazee could appeal the ban, one which will see him miss games against the Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens. Having lost three straight games, the Steelers are in a much worse position for the playoffs than they were recently. Pittsburgh could still manage to secure a wild-card berth, though, in which case Kazee’s absence would be acutely felt.
The former Falcons fifth-rounder has seen a much larger workload in 2023 than last season. Kazee’s defensive snap share (81%) is the third-highest of his career, and he has been a productive player on the backend. The San Diego State product has posted 61 tackles, two interceptions, three pass deflections and two fumble recoveries this year. Especially with Minkah Fitzpatrick set to miss at least Week 16, Kazee’s loss will deal a blow to Pittsburgh’s secondary.
Mark Kaboly of The Athletic reports that Kazee will indeed appeal the suspension. Regardless of how much time he misses, he has already lost over $267K in fines overt the course of the season, a figure which will increase unless the ban is rescinded altogether. A best-case scenario for Kazee and the Steelers, realistically, would involve the suspension being reduced to a degree.
Broncos safety Kareem Jackson managed to appeal a four-game suspension down to two earlier in the season, but he has since been hit with another four-game ban. This marks Kazee’s first suspension of the season, but his accumulation of discipline from the league (which includes five fines for unnecessary roughness) will no doubt be a factor in the appeals process. While it will interesting to see if he manages to see the field again in 2023, Kazee figures to be out of the lineup for the time being.
Wow, that’s crazy. Curious to see the precedent that will justify this…but he did absolutely level Pittman straight to the head
Watch the replay, his shoulder makes contact with Pittman’s upper chest. No helmets ever touch….
shoulder makes direct contact with the head and neck. well deserved suspension based on his history.
What is his history?
Yeah this one seems to be just bad timing more than intentional or dirty. Still a foul hitting a defenseless receiver.
Kazee is going for a hit to prevent a catch. Pittman leaps to make a grab. They collide. Neither player can change their trajectory.
to think people keep forgetting to realizes even if it wasn’t helmet the helmet there’s a rule saying you can hit a defenseless receiver which Michael Pittman was diving for that ball. you know I say kick him out of league for rest of his career if you got the same people doing it over and over and over obviously they’re not getting the message
The only reason for this type of reaction was because it was the only NFL game that fans could watch on Saturday at 430.
If this was buried in a Sunday schedule I don’t believe it would have been nearly as harsh.
He’s never been suspended for a hit before.
With the injury record, including CTE, the NFL better change the rules to protect defenceless players and to stop targetting and bounties. It looks like Sean Payton is back to his old Bounty-gate tricks in Denver. Banning Payton for life would be a good signal to send around coaches room, NFL-wide.
Not only have hundreds of players lived out the rest of their lives in a stupor due to CTE, non-players have been killed by players suffering from severe CTE (Phillip Adams, Aaron Hernandez among others). There’s a huge liability issue on the table now. If the NFL continues to ignore these issues now that they are aware of them, arguably the NFL is liable for these injuries and any damage wrought by those who suffer from these injuries.
Speaking of which, the players should sue the league for continuing to play more than half the games on artificial turf, which is a proven destroyer of knees and ankles. How many ex-players can barely walk due to artificial turf driven injuries?
Players have to be aware of these consequences and therefore accept the possibilities as with the enormous wages.
I see your ethics rival those of the Roman Emperors. Live a gladiator! Die a gladiator!
Seriously, if the NFL is turning a blind eye to bounties and encouraging head shots, the NFL is civilly liable. There are certain rights which an employer cannot evade.
We live in modern civilisation not biblical times. Let me take that back…civilisation has radically regressed in the last two months.
That’s absolutely absurd. There is no consistency or legitimacy to these suspensions.
Sorry that the Steelers suck
Spoken from the 5-7 gators fan
I’m not angry, I know they suck.
So am I. It’s not relevant to my list, but thanks anyways.
I guess NFL films will need to destroy about 80% of thier archives from the 70s thru 90s. Can’t show that stuff today.
Yea and women couldn’t vote in the 1800s. What’s your point?
Proof that not all progressive moves forward are for the best.
So the NFL should go back to peoples heads being taken off?
League has changed and consistency is not across the board. High profile players get protected more than less profile players.
Go watch flag football then.
We now need to eliminate hits on players leaving their feet to make a catch.
Easy for Runyan to say he could have changed paths. It’s the defenders job to ensure the WR doesn’t catch a ball.
I’m not saying Kazee didn’t deserve booted or even fined but rest of the season? BS.
Show me how you go at that angle and hit the guy to prevent the catch.
Runyan is a putz
He’s just doing what the league wants. Physical tacklers, whether they attack with the shoulder or not, are being removed from the game. Consequently, defenses are much more nervous to contest catches. More offense, more profit…at least until people start to realize that scoring is meaningless if it’s easy to do. Good luck convincing Goodell of that, though.
My opinions aside, the NFL has definitely taken steps this year to penalize certain players specifically for their playing style. Those players will have that target follow them afterwards, as well, as evidenced by the NFL’s statements that refer to their histories.
Easy to see when you watch player shy from tackling QBs that are heading to the ‘boundaries’. Watched QBs gain extra 10 yards being shadowed by DBs. It’s gotten pathetic in that regard.
Maybe invoke a rule wherein if you touch a player on the shoulder he’s considered ‘down’.
It would be better (read:not as terrible) to watch than what you’ve described, which I have also sadly observed far too often…especially for certain players, like Mahomes.
The genius of the NFL is that that they’ve found a way to make us ASK for these sorts of things…
Just transition to flag football.
Are there any contact sports left in America?
DID YOU KNOW THAT FLAG FOOTBALL IS AT THE OLYMPICS THIS YEAR
oh really i hadn’t heard
There’s this sport called hockey.
Ironically, Tomlin would be struggling to maintain a winning record if he was currently coaching the Penguins.
The current penguins coach is struggling to maintain a winning record. Must have missed that
Sullivan and Tomlin can both go
I’ve tried. Honestly I have tried. Just never got into hockey so I must’ve subconsciously blocked it.
Plenty actually. MMA, boxing, wrestling, lacrosse, hockey, basketball, rugby, and martial arts to name a few.
Classicfinder- Respectfully, that list seems very solid, except for basketball… disregarding games Draymond Green is playing in, of course.
NBA stopped being a contact sport after the 90s lol
I should’ve said “professional American sports” and excluded the obvious (fighting).
I also should’ve figured my post would be taking literally lol
The game is becoming quite the joke. Feministic rules and childish favoritism officiating.
Used to be a ‘man’s’ game now there’s female officials, play by play and talk show morons.
Each year, for the last 10, I gravitate more to the NHL and Amatuer Hockey.
Go Canucks! Eh?
If this really is the direction they want to take the sport they need to convert to flag football and stop the charade.
National Feminine League. The defense should be forced to wear skirts.
So Kareem Jackson has been handed 2 suspensions this season. I believe one was reduced and the second remained a 4 game suspension. Kazee who has the fines that Jackson does has his suspension upheld? Never suspended before
In other news, he isn’t playing again cuz the Steelers are DEAD.
Lifelong Steeler fan and I totally agree with this suspension. This is not his first infraction and he launched himself with intent. At what level of football do they teach you to tackle like that. Dirty play all around
Not up on Steelers since Ben the molester yet curious where’s the weakness in the player roster?
WR or DB