Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee will be suspended for the rest of the season after a brutal hit he landed on Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in the second quarter of last Saturday's game according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

With 8 minutes and 43 seconds left of the first half, Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew went down the field to Pittman, but as he was diving to make the catch, Kazee went down and landed a gruesome hit on the receiver. The NFL thought the hit was so bad that it was worth Kazee receiving a suspension that keeps him out for the rest of the season as the Steelers are still in the hunt for the playoffs.

According to a press release sent by the NFL, “Damontae Kazee of the Pittsburgh Steelers has been suspended without pay for the remainder of the regular season and any potential postseason games for repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players, including during this Saturday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.”

Kazee's agent chimes in on the suspension

Kazee will be reportedly appealing the suspension for the rest of the season and his agent Ron Butler provided a statement to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports. Butler said since he's been a sports agent, “this is the most I've dealt with fines.”

“I want to bring light to the situation of defensive players who are in a position feeling like they have to make plays to keep their job, but also not having any intent to injure. This is the most I've dealt with fines since I've been an agent,” Butler said. “I understand they're trying to clean up the game, but at this point it's a bit extreme. As for the notion of Kazee receiving a harsher punishment for being a ‘repeat violator' you have to remember most of his fines that were assessed this season got rescinded after appeal. So we have to be careful about that classification and narrative.”

NFL Vice President of Football Operations Joe Runyan issued the suspension to Kazee and it was cited that the player broke three violations, with one being that he hit a “defenseless player’s head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder, even if the initial contact is lower than the player’s neck, and regardless of whether the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the defenseless player by encircling or grasping him.”

The NFL's letter to Kazee regarding the hit

The NFL even released the letter that Runyan sent to Kazee to inform him of his suspension in the press release Monday and the exact rules he has violated. In the letter, he said the Steelers' actions were “flagrant.”

“With 8:49 remaining in the 2nd quarter, you were involved in a play that the League considers a serious violation of the playing rules,” Runyan said to Kazee. “The video of the play shows that you delivered a forcible blow to the head/neck area of Colts’ receiver Michael Pittman Jr., who was in a defenseless posture. You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided. Your actions were flagrant, and as a result, you were disqualified from the game.”

Runyan would continue and say that it is “appropriate” of the NFL to give players “greater penalties” if players don't fall in line with the rules they have in place. The 30-year old Safety has played for the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys before signing with the Steelers in 2022.

“When players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, and particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player, it is appropriate to impose substantially greater penalties,” Runyan said.

As said before, Kazee will miss the remainder of the regular season and any playoff games if Pittsburgh makes it. The Steelers next game will be Saturday, Dec. 23 against the Cincinnati Bengals.