Steelers TE Darnell Washington has perfect response after NFL officiating drops the hammer on him for a hilarious celebration
The Pittsburgh Steelers tight end got hit with a hefty bill from the league for his touchdown celebration in Paris, and he wasted no time letting his play on the field do the talking less than a day later.
Well, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington picked a heck of a time to have a career day. His breakout performance came not even 24 hours after the NFL dropped the hammer on him for a touchdown celebration that went viral overseas.
Steelers tight end Darnell Washington was fined $14,926 for unsportsmanlike conduct, illegal celebrations, and vulgar acts last week against the New Orleans Saints.
It’s a pretty funny fine, and the league’s reasoning doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Washington had a response of his own, though. He essentially told the NFL to go ahead and take the 15 grand, because he was about to show everyone how good he is.
Darnell Washington’s day by the numbers
- Three receptions
- 94 receiving yards
- Led the Steelers in receiving
Washington was impossible to bring down
The play everyone will remember came late in the game. Washington caught the ball and went rumbling down the boundary, and for once he wasn’t stumbling the way he sometimes does in the open field. Nobody was getting him down by their lonesome.
That’s the part of his game that makes him so dangerous. When a player his size gets a head of steam in space, defensive backs have to make a business decision. More often than not, Washington wins those collisions.
He finished as Pittsburgh’s leading receiver, which says plenty about both his growth and the state of the passing game around him.
A true weapon in Mike McCarthy’s offense
Darnell Washington has become a real weapon in Mike McCarthy’s offense, and the transformation started with his body. The Steelers put him on a diet. The message was simple: they like that he’s big, but he was a little too big. The goal was to make him more agile and get him back to the 4.6 to 4.7 range he ran at the NFL Combine.
So far, that plan is paying off. Washington looks lighter on his feet, and he’s no longer just a sixth offensive lineman who happens to catch the occasional pass.
To be fair to the critics, the Steelers’ passing offense has been pretty anemic, especially on the perimeter. The wide receivers haven’t consistently won their matchups, and that has put a ceiling on what Pittsburgh can do through the air.
When you can dump the ball off to your tight end and watch him rumble up the boundary the way Washington did, you aren’t going to complain much about where the production comes from. If he turns out to be your leading receiver on the day, I think the Steelers are just fine with that.
And I think Washington is just fine with paying the NFL for his celebrations, as long as he keeps finding the end zone. The No Fun League is going to do what it does. Washington answered with the best game of his career, and that’s a trade I believe he would make every single week.
