Dez Bryant was ‘shocked’ taking his helmet off led to a penalty
Statistically speaking, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant had a relatively quiet day against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. He was, however, just as animated as usual.
During the third quarter, Bryant was flagged twice on the same play. The first penalty was for offensive pass interference, which Dez thought was a bad call. He then took his helmet off while protesting and was his with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The second call surprised Bryant more than the first.
“I wasn’t angry at the ref,” he told reporters, according to The Dallas Morning News. “I was trying to see what the call was. I thought they called pass interference on the defense. When I was trying to come out of my break, the guy was tugging on me a little bit and I was trying to break away from it.
“He threw the flag and the whole time I’m thinking it’s a flag on him. Then I took my helmet off and I didn’t know that that was a penalty. I was kind of shocked and then I heard the ref say, ‘He took his helmet off.’ I know now not to take my helmet off. If you go back and look at the play, you’ll see I’m shocked. I’m confused.”
Most casual NFL fans could tell you that intentionally removing your helmet on the field results in a penalty, but Bryant supposedly was unaware of the rule. Maybe that helps explain why Jared Allen laughed right in his face when it happened.
Although audio shows there are times when Bryant was being positive with his emotional outbursts last weekend, it’s obvious he needs to do a better job of controlling his emotions. He could have cost Dallas a win with his boneheaded mistake on Sunday.
