Steelers’ legend Joe Greene the latest to pile on Chase Claypool: ‘Very immature’

Former Pro Bowl players and Super Bowl winners were among the Pittsburgh Steelers alumni who last week criticized Chase Claypool for his first-down celebration that cost the Steelers precious seconds late in a loss at Minnesota.

Wednesday night, though, the man many consider to be the greatest Steeler piled on, too.

“Hey man, I thought you were more educated – didn’t you go to Notre Dame?” Joe Greene said, to Claypool rhetorically, during an appearance on CBS Sports Radio. “Why are you playing this game – for you to show your butt, or win the game?”

Claypool’s celebratory pointing of his arm during the final drive of the Steelers’ 36-28 loss at the Minnesota Vikings likely cost the Steelers at least an extra snap during the final frantic moments of their attempted comeback from a 29-point deficit.

Ryan Clark, Brett Keisel and Charlie Batch were among former Steelers who publicly, in one form or another, expressed exasperation after the game. But as a Hall of Famer and only one of two Steelers to have his number formally retired, Greene’s words carry more weight than most.

“In all the years I’ve been watching my team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Black and Gold, Thursday night in the first half was probably the saddest day I’ve had in all my years of playing and all my years since my retirement watching the Steelers play,” Greene said on “The Zach Gelb Show” on national CBS Sports Radio. “That was a poor, poor example for the Black and Gold. It disappointed me, and I am sure it disappointed a lot of guys who love the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Mean Joe Greene said the first half against the #Vikings was the saddest he’s ever been watching the #Steelers and has a message for @ChaseClaypool.

Full @ZachGelb Show chat with @ProFootballHOF Joe Greene here: https://t.co/oemWXa5usk pic.twitter.com/Cll8LCIBy9

— CBS Sports Radio (@CBSSportsRadio) December 16, 2021

The Steelers were badly outgained during the first half, allowing several long runs among 153 yards gained by the Vikings’ Dalvin Cook and four sacks of their own quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.

But none of the missed tackles or blocks have drawn as much ire as the flashpoint moment of Claypool’s gaffe.

“You made the play, give the ball back to the official,” the 75-year-old Greene said in his radio appearance. “The clock is ticking, you’re costing your team valuable time.

“I don’t know if that’s youthful exuberance; maybe it was that. In college, when you get a first down the clock stops, maybe he had throwback memory he was in college… But the game is not about him pointing ‘first down;’ (heck), we can see. We know you made the first down. Get your tail back to the huddle, give the ball back to the officials. Very immature.”

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