Pittsburgh Steelers player DeShon Elliott tried to be funny with his social media activity ... but it backfired when fans criticized him for sharing an insensitive joke referencing Osama bin Laden and his coach Mike Tomlin ahead of a matchup against the New York Jets.
The meme in question was part of the safety's photo dump on Instagram -- showing Tomlin's face photoshopped on top of bin Laden's head, with the caption "Osama Bin Tomlin.