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NFL Hands Down Heavy Fine to Steelers Safety DeShon Elliott After Instagram Post Criticizing the League

Dublin, Ireland — 2025
What should’ve been a postcard afternoon — Steelers edging the Vikings 24–21 in the NFL’s first-ever game on Irish soil — became DeShon Elliott’s stage. Not just for the stat line — 6 tackles (4 solo, 2 assist), 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 2 pass breakups, and 1 interception off Carson Wentz — but for a furious sentence fired onto Instagram:

“Count your f**** days… Y’all worried about the wrong things. Let’s fix things that actually mean something.”**

On the field, Elliott was the hinge of the Steel Curtain: closing windows, changing angles, stealing a drive.
Off it, a letter and a number set him off: an initial $5,797 fine for a non-approved black towel — a uniform-code technicality in a league that permits only white or officially branded towels. A small infraction, a long fuse.

The Story spread like wildfire. Steelers Nation crowned him a truth-teller, a megaphone against petty policing while bigger questions — player safety, consistency — linger.
But the phrase “Count your days” carries consequence. The NFL historically does not shrug at language that reads as threatening. “Additional discipline” feels less like if, more like when.

This isn’t Elliott’s first dance with discipline (remember the $50K+ hit in Miami for unnecessary roughness). He knows how the league moves.
Yet inside that caption beats a Pittsburgh heart — defiant, unbothered by optics, allergic to empty rules. Fresh off a two-year, $12.5M deal, Elliott didn’t just play safety in Dublin; he challenged the institution that governs the game.

The Story is gone. The screenshots stayed. Now all eyes tilt toward New York, where the league weighs its response:
Can a black towel and a few raw words become the next flashpoint in football’s culture war?

Maybe Elliott gets another fine. Maybe he becomes the quote we remember from Ireland. Either way, Steelers Nation just pocketed a new legend — the day a safety turned a game into a forum on justice.

Packers Rookie Cut Before Season Retires to Join Military Service
The NFL is often described as the pinnacle of athletic dreams, but for one Green Bay rookie, the path to greatness has taken a turn away from the gridiron and toward a higher calling. After signing as an undrafted free agent in May, the young cornerback fought through training camp and preseason battles, hoping to carve out a roster spot on a Packers team recalibrating its depth and identity in the secondary. That player is Tyron Herring, a Delaware (via Dartmouth) standout known as a true outside corner with length, competitive toughness, and special-teams upside. Listed at 6’1”, 201 pounds with verified long speed, Herring built a reputation as a press-capable defender who thrives along the boundary.  Waived in late August, Herring stunned teammates and fans by announcing his retirement from professional football and his decision to enlist in the U.S. military, trading a Packers jersey for a soldier’s uniform. “I lived my NFL dream in Green Bay, but being cut before the season opened another path,” Herring said in a statement. “This isn’t the end — it’s a higher calling. Now, I choose to serve my country with the same heart I gave the Packers.” Prototypical on paper for Green Bay’s boundary profile and steady on tape throughout August, Herring nevertheless faced heavy competition in a crowded cornerback room. The numbers game won out as the Packers finalized their 53 and practice squad. For the Packers, the move closes the chapter on a developmental project with intriguing tools. For Herring, it begins a profound new journey that echoes his “hidden gem” label — a player who consistently rose above expectations and now seeks to do so in service to something bigger than the game. Fans across Wisconsin and the college football community saluted the decision on social media, calling it “the ultimate sacrifice” and “proof that heart is bigger than the game.” Herring leaves the NFL, but his next mission may prove even greater.