Steelers: Why everyone hates Vontaze Burfict

Every sport has them. They’re the kind of players who take a special pleasure in hurting their opponents. What they lack in skill they make up for in nastiness. Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is one of the worst.

Burfict has not made a secret out of how he feels about the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Cincinnati’s practice concluded on Wednesday Burfict told reporters that he “hates Pittsburgh,” per Ralph Paulk of TribLive.com

“I hate Pittsburgh,” Burfict said after practice Wednesday.“It’s not personal. That’s just the way it is.”

Sometimes with Burfict it really does seem to be personal, the way that he targets certain Steelers and tries to take them out of the game with dirty plays.

This season Burfict has already managed to take out LeVeon Bell, who was lost for the season thanks to a knee injury he suffered near the sideline when Burfict tackled him. He also took a cheap low shot at Ben Roethlisberger last month, which the NFL thought was dirty enough to fine him nearly $70,000. Watch this and try to claim he was making a legitimate tackle:

It’s easy to think that Burfict has some personal vendetta against the Steelers, but a closer look at his track record shows that he’s like this 24-7, 365. Burfict has made a whole lot of enemies around the league for his unique style of play, if you can call it that.

Observe Burfict tackling Cam Newton and then putting him in a vintage Ken Shamrock ankle lock last year:

This is nothing new for Burfict, who has been involved in so many violent incidents after the whistle that it’s hard to keep track. Back in college he famously head-butted Oregon State’s quarterback.

It’s not just opposing players who have felt the sting of Burfict’s delightful personality. Earlier this season against the Browns he attacked a helpless camera man and threw his equipment on the ground:

Everyone needs to blow off steam from time to time (especially football players) but there’s a word to describe the kind of individual who does these things on a regular basis. Since this is a family blog we can’t share it here. Use your imagination.

Next: Wild Card Tomlin Tuesday

If you don’t have a dog in this fight between the Steelers and the Bengals all you have to do is take a look at Vontaze Burfict and the decision should become an easy one.

Burfict may hate Pittsburgh, but EVERYONE hates Burfict.