Week 8 presented fans with quite some moments to talk about. However, one of the highlights was Steelers guard Mason McCormick literally picking Jared Verse up and slamming him headfirst into the ground. Of course, McCormick got a penalty for unnecessary roughness. Both sides have said what they wanted to say about the play, but the dust has yet to settle on this matter.

“Report: Mason McCormick is likely facing a fine,” 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi wrote on X. “For his body slam of whiny baby Jared Verse. Per great Steelers insider Nick Farabaugh. The expectation is he’ll be fined around $10,000. We should start a GoFundMe for McCormick if he gets fined.”

As per the NFL’s officiating rules, striking, kicking, tripping, or kneeling come under flagrant personal fouls and unnecessary roughness. The first offense usually gets a $12,537 fine. A second offense leads to an $18,507 fine. But unsportsmanlike conduct will get McCormick a $14,926 fine for the first offense. 

McCormick claims he was coached to make that move.

“I really had no idea who it was,” McCormick said in his defense after the game. “I just felt somebody jump and we’re told to get jumpers hands down. And that’s really it.”

He was even backed by former Browns OL Jason Pinkston, who didn’t believe that McCormick did anything wrong. Taking to X, he defended McCormick’s case, claiming that ‘Offensive Line 101’ teaches offensive linemen to dump any defensive player whose feet leave the ground.

It’s worth noting that Verse had been talking trash about the Steelers for quite some time now. He has certainly gone a bit too deep into the Browns-Steelers rivalry. Earlier in the season, Verse accused the Steelers of playing dirty and made it clear in their first matchup that he hates the black and yellow. He even stated that he wanted the Browns to make Pittsburgh theirs. 

Steelers veteran Cam Heyward fired back at Verse after the ‘playing dirty accusation.

“Double teaming, sliding, chipping, are those not allowed in our game?” Heyward said on The Rich Eisen Show. “Yeah, I got the bruises to prove it. But we don’t whine about it, baby. It’s part of the game.”

Jared Verse hasn’t even marked a full season of being with the Browns. He came to Cleveland by way of the Myles Garrett trade with the Los Angeles Rams. It’s safe to say he’s got a good taste of the rivalry, though McCormick’s reaction seemed to be a natural response for a defensive player jumping during the play.

Meanwhile, the body slam left Verse visibly frustrated. But what made it worse was the reaction of his teammates. 

Jared Verse wasn’t happy with how his teammates reacted after Mason McCormick body-slammed him

Right after the game, Verse said that he “can’t have respect” for what McCormick did. The move clearly affected the defensive end, which even pushed him to say that had this not been football, he would have “reacted in a different way.” However, what has also left a bad taste in his mouth is the lack of his teammates’ reaction to the bizarre play.

“The lack of reaction by those around me had upset me a lot,” the edge rusher said this week. “They were focused on the game and everything like that, but a similar play happened to Derek Barnett on the next field goal, and I lost it. Because those are my brothers, those are my teammates, and when you do something like that to them, it upsets me very deeply. … These are my teammates, these are my brothers, and we’re not fighting for each other.”

For what it’s worth, Verse has already admitted that there was a lack of awareness on his part, and he underestimated who he was going up against.

At the end of the day, the collision between McCormick and Verse captures the razor-thin line between textbook trench warfare and crossing the NFL’s safety boundaries. For now, the Steelers guard will likely have to wait for a hefty fine from the NFL.