Amidst the carnage of another chapter in the Ravens-Steelers rivalry was a helping hand.
When Lamar Jackson was shoved out of bounds and into Pittsburgh-based photographer Shelley Lipton, the clip of Jackson lifting Lipton up from the turf went viral with 1.1 million views on Twitter.
Often, athletes will just go about their day after running somebody over on the sideline, hardly taking the time to notice. But Jackson isn't like any other athlete (in many ways).
"They're human beings too," Jackson said. "I know we're moving fast. It gets physical out there on the field. We're coming full speed and she's sitting down taking pictures. I know that kind of hurt her. So I had to make sure she was alright."
But what's also really cool about this story is Lipton's toughness to hang in there till the last second to get the shot. And it was a fantastic shot.
This is the photographer equivalent of a quarterback standing in the pocket as long as he can to deliver a touchdown pass with pressure bearing down – and paying the price.
As Lipton noted, Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt was penalized for roughing the passer (late hit) on Jackson and the Ravens scored on a 4-yard Mark Ingram II touchdown run two plays later.
Lipton had a bunch of people reach out to her on Twitter to ask if she was OK (she was). One of them was Jackson, who got in touch with her on Twitter to make sure she was alright.
Needless to say, Lipton was also quite impressed with the Ravens quarterback.
