Darius Slay appeared to get away with throwing a punch at an opponent during Sunday’s Week 15 game between his Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
The Steelers had a 1st-and-10 at the Eagles’ 11 down 3-0 in the first quarter. Russell Wilson passed to Najee Harris for a gain of 7. Harris got some great blocking from Steelers tight end Darnell Washington, who pushed Slay all the way through the back of the end zone.
The great blocking by Washington left Slay frustrated and resulted in a scrum behind the end zone.
Darnell Washington blocked Darius Slay through the end zone and a fight breaks out pic.twitter.com/fWqsOdt4GV
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 15, 2024
Both Washington and Calvin Austin III were called for unnecessary roughness penalties, which pushed the Steelers back to the 19. They ended up kicking a field goal to tie the game.
But you can see in this video that Slay, who wears jersey No. 2, appeared to get away with throwing a punch.
Some punches being thrown in #Eagles and #Steelers.
Started with action toward Darius Slay. Here’s the tail end of it. Some action from Broderick Jones.
Personal foul by Calvin Austin III and Darnell Washington. 15-yard penalty to both players. pic.twitter.com/Xr6ZKkh5Gk
— Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrCBS) December 15, 2024
The game between the teams was heavily anticipated. Not only are they both Pennsylvania teams, but the Eagles entered 11-2 and the Steelers 10-3. These are good teams with passionate players and fan bases, so it’s not surprising things got heated early on.
For Slay, this is a moment of what could have been. He revealed on his podcast that in 2023, he was being recruited by Steelers players to join the team.
“What’s so crazy is I almost was almost was going to them, too. They hit me up, too. [T.J. Watt] text me. Cam Heyward text me and talking about come in there. Before I ever got to make the decision, I think they signed [Patrick Peterson] so they kind of chilled out for a minute. But I was almost a Pittsburgh Steeler as well,” Slay said.
Slay ended up remaining with the Eagles, for whom he has played since 2020. He also said that he nearly joined another AFC North team — the Ravens. Prior to joining the Eagles in 2020, Slay played with the Detroit Lions.
