San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams completely lost his cool on Thursday night, unloading a closed-fist punch that landed squarely to the facemask of New York Giants defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson.
Although a flag was thrown for the right hook, Williams was not ejected from the game — something that is mandatory based on NFL rules.
Trent Williams just punched A'Shawn Williams in the face lmao pic.twitter.com/TgaxaZJ5fX
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) September 22, 2023
After the game, Williams laughed about getting away with the punch and even suggested that he shouldn’t be fined for it.
“It was a love tap,” a smug Williams told reporters.
So, why was Williams allowed to punch Robinson in the face and avoid ejection? The NFL and their officials scrambled to find an excuse following the 30-12 San Francisco win.
“When we have a flag thrown on the field for unnecessary roughness, members of the officiating department are able to review available video, Rule 19, to determine if there is a flagrant action that should result in a disqualification,” NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson said after the game. “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.”
A deliberate punch to the face apparently doesn’t qualify if it’s a Giants player on the receiving end.
Anderson then made an even more absurd claim, suggesting that game officials couldn’t determine if Williams used a closed fist despite countless angles leaving that without question.
“Couldn’t confirm that 100 percent from the standpoint of was it truly a closed fist with a strike,” he said.
Okay.
Robinson refused to address the punch after the game but did say something in Serbian when asked by The Athletic’s Charlotte Carroll about the incident.
There is a long history between Williams and Robinson dating back to the latter’s time in Los Angeles, and it’s apparently personal — something that extends beyond the game of football.
Still, the NFL’s explanation for why Williams wasn’t ejected is ludicrous.
[lawrence-related id=716063,716058,715971]