All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams added a burst of excitement to the San Francisco 49ers’ 30-12 victory during “Thursday Night Football” when he engaged in a shoving match with New York Giants defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson.
Offsetting penalties for unnecessary roughness were issued to both players before halftime. However, upon further review, it appeared that Williams may have thrown a punch at Robinson’s facemask, leaving fans perplexed as to why the 35-year-old was not ejected.
Following the game, Pro Football Writers of America pool reporter Matt Barrows interviewed NFL senior VP of officiating Walt Anderson, aiming to uncover the reasoning behind the decision.
“We couldn’t confirm that 100 percent from the standpoint of was it truly a closed fist with a strike, we just couldn’t determine that,” Anderson stated.
You can judge for yourself by watching the video below:
Before providing a final conclusion, Anderson provided some context.
“We ended up looking at the video we had available to us, and we just didn’t see anything that rose to the level of flagrant, which is the standard that we have to apply to disqualify the player,” Anderson explained, citing the NFL’s Rule 19.
When Barrows challenged the notion that striking someone in the facemask should be considered flagrant, Anderson deferred to the officials’ discretion.
“These are judgment calls, and often you might have an open hand, such as a stiff arm to the face, as opposed to a closed fist punch, which carries a different weight with it,” Anderson explained. “There can be instances where there is contact with the hands to the helmet, and some of those actions would be viewed as a punch while others would not.”
Williams himself dismissed the incident as “a love tap” and does not anticipate facing a fine.
“It wasn’t that hard,” he told reporters after the game. “Just mixing it up, man. There are a lot of tempers flaring out there. It’s a competitive game, and sometimes things boil over a little bit.”
Since he was not ejected, the 49ers were able to benefit from the presence of one of the league’s top offensive linemen, resulting in a total of 441 yards gained on offense.
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