11/05/24
December 18, 2010
49ers' Smith Ejected for Shoving Official: San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith was ejected in the second quarter of Thursday night's loss to San Diego after contact with an official. Smith shoved aside umpire Garth DeFelice during an argument with a Chargers player. Smith said afterwards he "wasn't even aware it was an official at first."
Good thing this wasn't a quarterback, though -- they would have shot Smith on the spot.
Don't tell that to Andy Reid.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 11:48 AM on December 18, 2010
Another official had already broken up the argument and pushed the players away from each other, when the second official jumps in and starts pushing Smith back. The official should get an instigator penalty, if there was such a thing. And if the sports leagues ever tried to control the actions of their officials.
posted by graymatters at 11:49 AM on December 18, 2010
I don't fault the official for jumping in to the scrum quickly, but he should have recognized that the shove was unintentional. Taking away a team's best DT in the second quarter changes the game.
posted by rcade at 12:11 PM on December 18, 2010
Taking away a team's best DT in the second quarter changes the game.
In that game? Changes the game to...a loss by only 20?
posted by LionIndex at 01:16 PM on December 18, 2010
funniest part of that video is at the 21 second mark...Smith lightly bumps into #73 of the Chargers, Mc Neil...McNeil does about 1/2 of a dive. Then he laughs it off and walks back to the huddle.
Smith earns the flag, but shouldn't have been ejected.
posted by dviking at 02:26 PM on December 18, 2010
Smith earns the flag, but shouldn't have been ejected.
The problem is that the rule calls for an automatic ejection. Once he called the penalty, the referee no longer had a choice on the ejection.
but he should have recognized that the shove was unintentional.
The shove, for sure, was intentional. However, Smith most probably didn't realize it was an official he was shoving. In the heat of the moment it is impossible, but he should have looked first.
posted by billinnagoya at 07:49 PM on December 18, 2010
unintentional?
how can you NOT see someone less than an arms length in front of your face who is wearing big black and white stripes?
posted by wowjimi at 11:17 AM on December 19, 2010
Did you watch the video, Wowjimi? It seems pretty clear how he didn't realize it was a zebra.
posted by rcade at 04:47 PM on December 19, 2010
I know why it was done, but that seems pretty harsh. I thought it was obvious Smith didn't know whose arm he was grabbing, but then it's probably better to apply the standard no matter the intent.
Of course, as a referee, if you come barreling into a shoving match, it's a little unreasonable to think you won't get shoved.
Good thing this wasn't a quarterback, though -- they would have shot Smith on the spot.