The Pittsburgh Steelers are once again under the NFL fine scanner. Linebacker Cole Holcomb is the latest Pittsburgh player to draw a penalty check from the league office, getting hit with an $11,041 fine following the team’s 30-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
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The league penalized Holcomb for an illegal blindside block on the opening kickoff, categorizing the action under unnecessary roughness. While referees on the field did not flag the play during live action, NFL film reviewers caught the hit post-game and issued the financial penalty on Saturday.
Blindside hits are among the most dangerous plays in football because the player taking the hit never sees it coming. The NFL banned these blocks after medical data showed they caused a large share of severe concussions during kickoffs and punt returns.
By cracking down on defenders who turn back toward their own end zone to deliver forceful contact, the league is trying to wipe out hit-and-run collisions that lead to serious head injuries.
While $11,041 is a minor hit against Holcomb’s $5 million contract, the true danger lies in the league’s new repeat-offender policy. Under updated NFL safety rules, blindside blocks fall into a specific group of major safety infractions alongside hip-drop tackles, horse-collar tackles, launching, and hits on defenseless players.
“Players who are fined for just one foul in one of those five “major” categories,” Tom Pelissero wrote on X in late August. “Will get 50% of their fine money back if they don’t get fined again for that foul during the season. (If a player is fined again for a foul in a different category, he will not receive the refund for that second foul).”
Players, though, have the right to appeal the fine as well, and it can be helpful, especially when Holcomb could lose $93,055 if suspended. Holcomb is the second Steelers player to be fined this season, with fellow linebacker Payton Wilson receiving an $8,480 fine in the fourth quarter of Week 2’s 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
Holcomb’s fine is just another one for the Steelers, who have piled up plenty of fines over the last three seasons. The Steelers were the most-fined team in 2023 and ranked third in 2024. Last year, the Steelers also became the second-most-fined team in the league, with fines totaling a tremendous $749,747, with the Washington Commanders the only team fined more than that.
Although the fine was for Week 3, the Steelers have since played another game against the Cleveland Browns, losing 27-24, and the NFL released the Week 3 fines on Saturday, the league’s usual day to release them.
Holcomb, over these four weeks, has been an important special teams player for the Steelers, logging 68 special teams snaps, playing 61% of the special teams snaps, while also recording 12 defensive snaps for the team. He has totaled six combined tackles. He also served as one of the weekly captains against the Browns, alongside safety Jaquan Brisker and running back Jaylen Warren.
Playing his fourth season with the Steelers, Holcomb has struggled his way up to the team, and his gruelling journey began with a catastrophic injury.
Cole Holcomb went through 18 months of pain to return to the field
The Steelers signed Holcomb in 2023, hoping he’d be the inside linebacker they were looking for, and he didn’t disappoint. Holcomb led the team with 54 tackles, including four tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. But things changed for him on November 2, 2023, when he suffered a gruesome knee injury, tearing multiple ligaments, ending his season then and there.
“When I signed here, coming off [a] Lisfranc injury and then go play nine games and completely tear tearing my knee up, you know, had moments where some people told me I wouldn’t play again,” Holcomb shared on the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast.
During his time off the field, Holcomb stayed on the sidelines, watching the plays, the defense, and the schemes unfold, which helped him see “the forest through the trees” and deepened his understanding of the game. Holcomb had a conversation with team physician Dr. James Bradley, which helped him comprehend the seriousness of the situation, with Dr. Bradley saying, “dude, you got to do everything right, and you still might not come back.”
But Holcomb finally made his comeback after 18 months in the 2025 season, appearing in 14 games for the Steelers, logging 37 combined tackles and one forced fumble. Even former legendary coach Mike Tomlin was surprised to see Holcomb’s mental toughness.
“You can’t say enough about his mental toughness,” coach Mike Tomlin said in 2025. “There’s a loneliness that comes with rehabilitation, and to see his commitment through the process, his unwavering commitment, his display of mental toughs, his general attitude. I think those are the things that are really significant and why we’re looking at the contributions that he’s able to make now.”
Holcomb’s journey has been nothing short of a fight for his career and place in the NFL, and his adventures continue as the Steelers struggle to hold their defense. Just last game, after 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers led the team to a 14-point rally, the defense failed him, with the Browns securing the win with a field goal.
“We pride ourselves on the defense on being able to make stops, especially in those situations at the end of the game,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “It’s definitely frustrating that we weren’t able to get off the field at that point.”
The Steelers will now play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, with the latter making their way with a 1-2 record.