It was December 4, 2017. A Monday night. If you’re a fan of the AFC North, you remember where you were because that game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals wasn't just football—it was a literal war zone. The air in Paul Brown Stadium felt heavy, almost toxic. By the time the JuJu hit on Burfict happened in the fourth quarter, the game had already devolved into something that looked less like a professional sport and more like a targeted series of retaliations.
Vontaze Burfict was, for lack of a better term, the boogeyman of the NFL at the time. He had a reputation. He was the guy who ended seasons and, according to some Steelers players, intentionally tried to ruin careers. So, when JuJu Smith-Schuster, then just a 21-year-old rookie with a golden-retriever personality, leveled Burfict with a crackback block that sent the linebacker's head snapping back, the reaction wasn't just about the yards. It was about a decade of bad blood boiling over in a single second of impact.
The Collision That Shook the AFC North
Let’s talk about the physics of it. It was a 12-yard pass to Le'Veon Bell. As Bell turned upfield, JuJu came across the formation. Burfict was hunting the ball carrier, eyes locked on Bell, completely unaware that a 215-pound wide receiver was charging at his chin from the blind side. JuJu lowered his shoulder. He didn't just block him; he launched.
The sound was sickening. Even over the roar of the Cincy crowd, you could hear the plastic-on-plastic crack. Burfict hit the turf instantly. He didn't move. In that split second, JuJu did the one thing that turned a "tough football play" into an eternal highlight reel of NFL infamy: he stood over him. He didn't just stand there, either. He loomed. It was a taunt that felt like a statement on behalf of every player Burfict had ever crossed.
The penalty flags flew before Burfict even stopped sliding.
Honestly, the hit itself was illegal by the book—a blindside block to the head and neck area. But the optics were what really set the league on fire. You had a veteran "villain" laid out by a rookie "hero," and the stadium went from bloodthirsty to deathly silent as the medical cart came out. It took minutes to get Burfict on a spine board. While that was happening, the social media world was already fracturing into two camps: those who thought JuJu was a vigilante hero and those who thought he was a dirty player in the making.
Why the Context of This Rivalry Matters
You can't understand the JuJu hit on Burfict without looking at the 2015 Wild Card game. That's the prerequisite reading here. That was the game where Burfict nearly took Antonio Brown’s head off, a hit that many argue changed Brown’s entire career trajectory and personality. The Steelers hadn't forgotten. The fans hadn't forgotten.
In the locker room, football is a small world. Players talk. They knew Burfict’s history of twisting ankles in piles and late hits on quarterbacks. To the Steelers, Burfict wasn't just an opponent; he was a threat to their livelihoods. When JuJu delivered that hit, he wasn't just playing a snap. He was participating in a multi-year narrative of "eye for an eye."
Ben Roethlisberger later commented that he didn't like the taunting, but he understood the physical nature of the game. That’s "quarterback speak" for: we’re glad someone finally got him. But the league didn't see it as poetic justice. They saw a safety nightmare. The NFL was already under massive pressure regarding CTE and player safety. Having a marquee Monday Night Football game turn into a highlight reel of concussions—Ryan Shazier had already been paralyzed earlier in that same game—was a PR disaster for Commissioner Roger Goodell.
✨ Don't miss: Stage 9 Tour de France: The Brutal Day That Breaks the Peloton
The Fallout and the Suspension
The league acted fast. Usually, a hit like that gets a fine. Maybe. But the NFL suspended JuJu Smith-Schuster for one game. They also suspended Bengals safety George Iloka for a hit on Antonio Brown later in that same game (though his was later reduced to a fine).
JuJu’s reaction was a mix of contrition and "it is what it is." He apologized for the taunt. He said he didn't mean to hurt anyone. But he also posted a photo of the hit on his social media later, which he eventually took down. It was a weird time for the rookie. He was trying to maintain his "Team JuJu" brand—video games, pizza deliveries, and bike rides—while being the guy who sent the NFL's most feared linebacker to the hospital.
Breaking Down the "Dirty" Label
Was it a dirty hit?
If you ask a Bengals fan, absolutely. It was a blindside shot to the head of a player who couldn't defend himself. By the strict definition of the rules in 2017, it was an illegal, defenseless-player hit.
If you ask a Steelers fan, it was a "clean" hard hit that happened to catch him high. They'd argue that if the roles were reversed, Burfict wouldn't have just blocked him; he would have tried to end his career.
The truth lives in the gray area. JuJu didn't use his helmet as a weapon, which is a key distinction. He led with the shoulder. However, the target was the chin. In today’s NFL—the 2026 version of the game—that hit would likely result in an immediate ejection and a multi-game ban. The rules have tightened so much since then that the "crackback" block has been virtually coached out of the league.
The Long-Term Impact on Both Players
Burfict was never really the same after that season. His suspension history continued to mount, and the injuries piled up. He became a man without a home in the league because his style of play—which would have made him a Hall of Famer in the 1970s—was now a liability.
JuJu, on the other hand, used that moment to cement his status as a Pittsburgh legend. Fans bought his jersey in droves. He wasn't just the kid who lost his bike anymore; he was the kid who stood up to the bully. But it also put a target on his back. For the rest of his time in Pittsburgh, and even into his stints with the Chiefs and Patriots, opponents looked at him differently.
What the Stats Don't Tell You
People look at the box score and see a 23-20 Steelers win. They don't see the psychological shift. That hit effectively ended the "Burfict Era" of the Bengals-Steelers rivalry. The league stepped in so hard after that game—handing out fines totaling nearly $100,000 across both rosters—that the teams were forced to chill out.
It changed how coaches taught blocking. Wide receivers were told: stay away from the head. Don't even risk it. The "JuJu Rule" isn't an official name in the rulebook, but the emphasis on eliminating blindside blocks shifted significantly following the 2017 season.
Examining the Cultural Meme
We have to mention the "standing over him" pose. It’s been immortalized in sports photography. It’s on T-shirts. It’s a GIF that appears every time the Steelers play the Bengals.
It represents a specific era of the NFL where the transition from "gladiator culture" to "safety culture" was at its most violent friction point. JuJu represented the new school—fast, social media-savvy, and athletic—while Burfict was the last of the old-school "headhunters." When the new school literally ran over the old school, it felt like a changing of the guard.
Technical Realities of the 2017 Rulebook
To be super specific about why he got suspended, it wasn't just the hit. It was the "Illegal Launch" and the "Taunting" combo. According to the NFL's memo at the time, the suspension was triggered because:
- JuJu "lined up a player" from a distance.
- He had time to adjust his path to avoid the head.
- The taunting showed a "lack of respect" for a potentially injured opponent.
Basically, the NFL used JuJu to set an example. They wanted to show that even "nice guys" would be punished if they played "villain" football.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Fans and Players
If you're looking back at this hit to understand how the game is played today, there are a few things to keep in mind. The NFL is no longer a league where "settling scores" is tolerated on the field.
- For Players: If you find yourself in a position to deliver a blindside block, the target must be the "strike zone"—the torso. Any contact with the neck or head, even if accidental, is going to result in a massive fine and a potential suspension.
- For Fans: Understanding the history of the AFC North explains why these games are still so chippy. Even though the names on the jerseys have changed, the institutional memory of hits like this remains.
- For Coaches: This play is the perfect "what not to do" film. JuJu could have made that same block by hitting Burfict in the chest, and the result would have been the same—Bell gets the corner—without the flag or the suspension.
The JuJu hit on Burfict remains one of the most polarizing moments in recent football history. It was a play that felt justified to many, yet was objectively dangerous. It was a moment of peak tribalism in sports. Whether you view it as a young player standing up for his team or a dirty hit on a defenseless man, it changed the trajectory of the NFL’s safety enforcement forever.
🔗 Read more: Why the D.K. Metcalf No Shirt Viral Photos Changed How We View NFL Athletes
Moving forward, the league has made it clear that "revenge" isn't a valid excuse for a helmet-to-chin hit. As the game continues to evolve toward a more technical, less "collision-based" sport, the 2017 Monday Night Football clash stands as a reminder of how violent the game used to be—and why the rules changed to ensure it never gets that out of hand again.