WATCH: Pitt player catching heavy criticism for very controversial celebration
By Adam Spencer
Published:
A week ago today, 11 people were tragically murdered at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh — the latest mass shooting in the U.S.
On Friday night, a Pitt player — DB Damarri Mathis — celebrated a play by miming shooting a machine gun, drawing heavy criticism.
You can see the celebration, which immediately drew a flag from officials, in the video below:
https://twitter.com/erikandersen_/status/1058557093479776257
Fans were naturally outraged, and took to Twitter to call out the player for his incredibly tone-deaf celebration:
Pitt player making a gesture of a machine gun. Cool move, dude
— Brandon Lloyd (@blloyd8298) November 3, 2018
That game went about as poorly as imaginable for UVA, Pitt had a guy do a machine gun celebration not a week after what that city went through. Sometimes sports are real bad
— Jordan Shank (@ShankJordan) November 3, 2018
Pretty sure I just saw @Pitt_FB DB #16 Damarri Mathis mimic shooting a machine gun at the @UVAFootball team at the end of the game just now. Can a person be more clueless, thoughtless, and tone deaf, given the current climate in our country? #PITTvsUVA pic.twitter.com/RbsFzf6pU1
— Scott Pharr (@spharr_ATL) November 3, 2018
I may be the only one in the world actually watching #PITTvsUVA right now, so ICYMI, a Pitt defender just celebrated a big play by making believe he was mowing everyone down with a machine gun. … he plays for PITTSBURGH! Prob not the best celebration to pull out there dude. ??♂️
— Diener (@sdiener86) November 3, 2018
That guy for Pitt did not just celebrate by pretending to shoot a machine gun did he? Good lord almighty man, how insensitive can you be? Such poor taste
— Kevin Martin (@kmart796) November 3, 2018
Pitt player making apparent machine gun gesture after great play may be the most tasteless decision ever after what the City of #Pittsburgh has dealt with this week
— Steve Chenevey FOX5 (@stevechenevey) November 3, 2018
There’s really never an appropriate time for a machine gun celebration, but especially considering the recent tragedy in Pittsburgh, Mathis’s actions are especially egregious.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
