The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most physical organizations in the NFL, that has remained true throughout the history of the franchise. They don’t back down from any opponent, and sometimes it is to their own detriment. This was exactly the case during a 2015 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, where the Steelers lost a key member of their defense due to a brutal collision on a kickoff.

Back in 2015, one of the stars of the Steelers defense was Ryan Shazier. He was only in his second season at the time, but was on a clear path towards stardom. During the most recent episode of The Christian Kuntz Podcast, Christian Kuntz spoke about telling old stories while on the St. Vincent College campus at training camp with Mike Tomlin, Shazier, Vince Williams, and Russell Wilson. One of those stories included a time Shazier and a Seahawks player collided on kickoff, knocking one another out.

“I guess Shazier was running down on kickoff, and Danny Smith said, and Danny’s never scared of anybody, Danny’s like, ‘Avoid that guy, whatever you do, don’t run into that guy.’ It was a Samoan dude, fullback, and I guess Shazier ran full speed down the field, whacked this dude, one for one, Shazier got knocked out, that dude was knocked out. Mike T. was like, ‘That was not a fair trade! I just gave up my green dot for a situational fullback!'”

Danny Smith is the Steelers’ special teams coordinator, and he has been for a long time. He is the prototypical “football guy,” who doesn’t like to back down from anyone. Due to him having this reputation, it’s fair to say Shazier probably should have listened to his coach and steered clear of that fullback on the kickoff.

This game came during the 2015 season, and the fullback Shazier collided with was Will Tukuafu. He wasn’t your average fullback. He played in the offensive backfield, on special teams, and occasionally on the defensive line. Both players were out for the game after the collision, which of course Tomlin was upset about. Shazier wore the green dot for the Steelers, which means they were relying on him to be on the field every play and communicate everyone’s responsibilities within the defense.

Pittsburgh lost their budding star at linebacker, and Seattle lost a player who occasionally comes in for goal line situations. No wonder Tomlin wasn’t too pleased with that trade off.

The Steelers would end up losing that game by a score of 39-30, and Shazier was only able to play 11 defensive snaps before being ruled out. Ben Roethlisberger also got hurt in the game, and would be replaced by Landry Jones. Both quarterbacks threw two interceptions for the Steelers, which makes it difficult for any team to capture a victory.

Steelers Will Now Need To Adjust To New Kickoff Rules

Starting in the 2024 season, players on kickoff and kickoff return will no longer be running at each other at full speed. They will now be lined up just five yards apart, which makes the play a lot safer. If these rules were in place back in 2015, both Shazier and Tukuafu likely would have been able to finish the game.

This is the most dramatic rule change the NFL has seen in quite a while. All team’s will need to adjust how they approach the play as the season goes along. The idea of the rule change is that the play is now safer, while it also will hopefully result in more kickoffs being returned. It brings the play back to life, while keeping players safe. This should result in some big plays early on while teams figure out the best way to scheme for kickoffs. Kickers will also be expected to play a slightly larger role when it comes to defending the kickoff.