Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin believes opposing NFL teams are employing the football version of “Hack-a-Shaq” on superstar edge-rusher T.J. Watt.
“I think T.J. runs into what all the elite rushers do,” Austin said, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “These guys are going to hold you until they can’t because a lot of times that’s the only way they can block.
“I mean I share in his frustration, but I don’t think there’s anything that we can do about it. We can complain and we can do all that, but that really doesn’t solve the problem. So I think we just deal with it. We just continue to fight and go. It’s almost like the Hack-a-Shaq.”
When center (and now Basketball Hall of Famer) Shaquille O’Neal ruled the NBA, opposing teams tried to slow him down by fouling the big man (and his team’s offenses) and sending him to the free throw line, where he made just 52.7 percent of his career shots.
It was all some teams could do to stop the 14-time All-NBA player, who averaged 28.1 points and 11.9 rebounds during his best decade of basketball (1993-2003), per