Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith was controversially ejected from Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans for a hit on Darren Fells.
Smith was flagged and ejected for using his helmet to initiate contact.
Harrison Smith was flagged for using the helmet to initiate contact here and got ejected.pic.twitter.com/1BFhuxzNgq
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 4, 2020
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was visibly furious with the call and argued intently with officials over the ejection.
The case in Smith’s favor would be that he was trying to lead with the shoulder and Fells lowered his head. That, Zimmer would likely say, made the helmet-to-helmet contact unavoidable. The referees ultimately didn’t see it that way.
The play was similar to some other helmet-to-helmet hits we’ve seen over the past few years. The NFL wants them out of the game, and will come down hard on them, intentional or not. Smith likely has at least a fine coming his way.
