San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Trent Williams managed to avoid an ejection on Thursday night after he punched an opponent, and the NFL’s explanation for allowing him to remain in the game was a bit puzzling.
Williams hit New York Giants defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson with a closed fist to the facemask just before halftime of San Francisco’s 30-12 win. The scuffle began when Robinson engaged with Niners offensive lineman Aaron Banks on a kneeldown play. Both Banks and Williams responded by shoving Robinson.
Robinson then cocked his hand back like he was going to swing at Williams. He instead gave Williams an open-hand tap in the chinstrap area. That’s when Williams hit Robinson with the closed-fist punch.
Trent Williams and A'Shawn Robinson get into it before the end of the first half. Williams punched Robinson (his helmet).
There were no ejections….pic.twitter.com/Rj9CiGZ835
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 22, 2023
Williams and Robinson were both flagged for unnecessary roughness, so the fouls offset. Another angle of the incident clearly showed that Williams threw a closed-fist punch, which typically triggers an automatic ejection.
Trent Williams just punched A'Shawn Williams in the face lmao pic.twitter.com/TgaxaZJ5fX
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) September 22, 2023
After the game, pool reporter Matt Barrows asked NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson about the decision to let Williams remain in the game. Anderson said the officiating crew reviewed the play and “didn’t see anything that rose to the level of flagrant.”
“We couldn’t confirm that 100 percent from the standpoint of was it truly a closed fist with a strike,” Anderson said, via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. “We just couldn’t determine that.”
When pressed further about the video that showed Williams used a closed fist, Anderson admitted that there are “a whole lot of camera angles” available in primetime games but that the officials did not feel any showed a flagrant act.
There are really only two possible explanations. The first is that the officiating crew somehow did not see the angle of the play that clearly showed Williams punching Robinson with a closed fist, because the other angles were not nearly as conclusive. The other explanation, which the NFL is less likely to admit to, is that officials felt Robinson was the instigator because he hit Williams in the face first. Because of that, officials may have decided matching penalties were more appropriate.
The Williams incident was the second time in less than a week that the NFL has had to provide an explanation for why a player was not ejected.
