Many Steelers fans were ecstatic with the team's upset win over Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. But that wasn't enough for some.
Kevin Dotson received death threats from fans on Twitter for committing three penalties during the 20-18 win, including a holding call on a play that erased a 27-yard completion to Diontae Johnson. The player Dotson held was Devin White, who still managed to break through and hit Kenny Pickett, who suffered a concussion on the play.
The injury to the prized rookie quarterback garnered some heat toward Dotson. But he never thought it would result in receiving a death threat.
Dotson addressed the issue Monday in the Steelers' locker room:
"At the end of the day, they've never done what I've done. They'll never be able to do it," Dotson said. "I try not to come at them as fans because I’ve been a fan my whole life. But, I never felt like I had the right to tell somebody that they should die. That's just wild."
Dotson said he received death threats from "at least 10 or 12" accounts. He also said there were those that followed the death threats, saying fans should have the right to express how they feel.
"You can feel what you want to feel," Dotson said. "But (to think) you could give somebody a death threat, that's just wild."
Dotson reported the accounts to Twitter, but didn't name any of them specifically.
"I didn't want to give them the publicity," he said.
Even so, Dotson took full responsibility for his mistakes during the win. He knows they cost the Steelers big plays and inevitably their starting quarterback.
"I didn't do it on purpose," Dotson laughed. "I didn't try to do it. I messed up. I had a bad day with penalties. Overall, I had a good game. If you can only see the negative, what's the point of me caring what you think? If you never say anything positive -- which they usually only say bad stuff about the O-line, and only talk about (us) when we're bad -- why would I listen to you now?"
As far as the play where Pickett was hurt, Dotson made it a point to apologize to his quarterback. Pickett wasn't upset about the play, and that was enough for Dotson.
"He forgave me," Dotson said. "So I don't really care what anybody else thinks."
