When Torrey Smith caught a pass down the middle of the field and was tackled by Pacman Jones on Sunday, three different officials threw a flag. Smith’s head was jerked backwards as he was dragged to the ground with what looked like a blatant horse-collar. Upon discussing it with one another, the referees realized the tackle was actually perfectly legal. That’s because Smith had been taken down by his hair. Check out this animation that @CJZero shared with us.
That’s the risk you run by being an offensive player with long hair in the NFL. A few years ago the NFL determined that the hair is part of the uniform, so you can grab a hold of it and drag a guy down and it’s completely legal. We knew Smith had a strong will as evidenced by the stories we heard about his college days, but this play would indicate he has quite the tolerance for pain as well.
