Chase Claypool: Steelers WR Getting Dragged On Twitter For Late-Drive Celebration
By: John P. Wise/KDKA
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Trailing by one score Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers were driving late, trying to tie a game they once trailed, 29-0.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger connected with wideout Chase Claypool on a 4th-down conversion in Minnesota territory with only 42 seconds left.
Most players would -- and did -- hustle back to the line of scrimmage to get ready for the next snap.
But Claypool, already benched once earlier in the game by coach Mike Tomlin, figured that would be the right time to celebrate the 4th-down conversion, as the clock was running.
Later in the drive -- on the game's final play, actually -- Roethlisberger fired a laser to rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth in the end zone. Sandwiched between three Vikings, Freiermuth got hit hard and couldn't hang on, and the Steelers dropped a close one to fall to 6-6-1 in a very competitive AFC.
After the game, and Friday morning, and so far Friday afternoon, Claypool is getting lit up on social media way worse than Freiermuth got lit up on that end-zone incompletion.
Here's a sampling:
Chase Claypool cost the Steelers AT LEAST 5 seconds posing & pointing
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 10, 2021
that would have given the Steelers 1 more play… 1 more shot to tie it up
so dumb, so clueless pic.twitter.com/cy7wSkv4XE
Chase Claypool celebrating a 9 yard catch with 36 seconds on the clock pic.twitter.com/opJvLSdTLx
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) December 10, 2021
Did Claypool catch the ball and point "first down" in a 2-minute drill??? Sometimes the immaturity of young players drives coaches nuts
— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) December 10, 2021
Chase Claypool watching his first down celebration in the film room this morning: pic.twitter.com/w8yS1Berkn
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) December 10, 2021
Mike Tomlin to Claypool pic.twitter.com/oUMKb1pBK5
— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) December 10, 2021
The Steelers: Pick up a crucial first down with less than a minute left, no timeouts and the clock running
— ???????? ✞ (@EvansWRLD) December 10, 2021
Chase Claypool: pic.twitter.com/FgaeVvqr1J
Did Claypool catch the ball and point "first down" in a 2-minute drill??? Sometimes the immaturity of young players drives coaches nuts
— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) December 10, 2021
Chase Claypool showing up to the Steelers practice facility tomorrowhttps://t.co/HglBLLfgLG
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) December 10, 2021
Chase Claypool is everything you want in a Pittsburgh Steeler. pic.twitter.com/WH8fm6QrG5
— Nick Karns (@karnsies817) December 10, 2021
(Story continues below tweet)
Chase Claypool. Million dollar body. Ten cent head. Making mental mistakes like crazy.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) December 10, 2021
To his credit, Claypool acknowledged his misstep, according to a story on Yahoo.com:
"Definitely gotta be better," Claypool told Yahoo. "I got tackled near the hash, did my little first-down point and went to hand the ball to the ref. He had just got there. So, even if I got right up and looked for him, he wasn't there. He ran down the field to come get the ball. The ball got knocked out of my hands. That's what cost us time. But I definitely do have to be better. I knew the situation. "