Before the game, Bud Dupree shared long embraces and what appeared to be warm conversations. After it, Dupree was all smiles posing for a photo with former teammates.
In between, he sacked an old friend — but left with a loss.
It was an eventful return to Pittsburgh for Dupree on Sunday.
“It was an emotional day back in Pittsburgh,” Dupree said after his Tennessee Titans lost 19-13 to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. “It was great to go out here with my new team, (but) we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”
After spending the first six years of his career with the Steelers, Dupree signed an $82 million contract with the Titans as a free agent in March. But Dupree was limited to only seven of Tennessee’s first 13 games because of continued recovery from knee surgery and then an abdominal injury.
But he was activated from injured reserve to face the Steelers for his first game in more than a month. Dupree was chosen to come out for the opening coin toss, where he hugged Steelers co-captains Ben Roethlisberger, Cameron Heyward and Derek Watt. Roethlisberger and Heyward were teammates for six full seasons, and each had a long conversation with Dupree.
Dupree had his second sack of the season in the third quarter, a rough tackle on Roethlisberger for a 9-yard loss.
After the game, Dupree posed with a host of Steelers: Heyward, fellow outside linebacker T.J. Watt, defensive lineman Tyson Alualu, safety Terrell Edmunds and defensive coordinator Keith Butler.
Buddies pic.twitter.com/dRepECXCDV
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 19, 2021
‘Complete B.S.’
At least one member of the Titans was not pleased with the officiating Sunday. Safety Kevin Byard, who entered the game tied for third in the NFL in interceptions with five, called it “complete B.S.”
All three of the calls Byard said he didn’t like came six snaps apart during a third-quarter Steelers drive: a pass interference call on Buster Skrine on a pass intended for Diontae Johnson, a personal foul on Kristian Fulton for a hit in which Pat Freiermuth was injured and a pass interference call in the end zone on Fulton while he was fighting for the ball with Chase Claypool.
“The one drive that was fueled by penalties,” Byard said, “they got a touchdown.”
It was the only touchdown the Steelers scored Sunday.
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