Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Mitchell was fined nearly $50,000 for his hit on Alex Smith during the Week 6 match-up with the Chiefs.
Mike Mitchell should have known it was coming, just like he should have known not to hit Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (or even Charcandrick West) in the first place. The Pittsburgh Steelers safety was fined a hefty amount for his low hit on Alex Smith on Sunday afternoon, one which Smith himself said was about “as flagrant as it gets.”
NFL fined Steelers’ safety Mike Mitchell $48,620 for his late hit on Chiefs QB Alex Smith, per source. He is appealing.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 19, 2017
You can see the hit on Alex Smith here on the left-hand side:
Alex Smith on Mike Mitchell's low hit : "That one to me just seemed so weird to get hit that low coming from behind" pic.twitter.com/I9FEn3lSo6
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) October 16, 2017
Mitchell has been fined twice before for unnecessary roughness on tight ends Tyler Eifert of the Cincinnati Bengals and Antonio Gates of the Los Angeles Chargers. On Sunday, Mitchell also went for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chiefs running back Charcandrick West.
But what about this Charcandrick West hit that Mike Mitchell went all in on? pic.twitter.com/gGE4hacQmh
— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) October 19, 2017
So yeah, at this point, one thing is clear: Mike Mitchell is a dirty player without any semblance of class or respect for the game. Mitchell’s history of unnecessary violence in a game that already struggles to remove harm from its inherent structure should equal much more than a $50K fine, but at this point, we’re glad to at least see something negative taken from Mitchell. He’s certainly taken much more from his fellow players.