Referee explains why Trent Williams wasn't ejected for punch in 49ers-Giants
Not much that happened in the 49ers' Week 3 win over the Giants on Thursday was that surprising. Arguably the most eyebrow-raising moment came at the end of the second quarter when, after some pushing and shove as the Niners knelt out the half, San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams escaped ejection despite appearing to […]
Not much that happened in the 49ers' Week 3 win over the Giants on Thursday was that surprising.
Arguably the most eyebrow-raising moment came at the end of the second quarter when, after some pushing and shove as the Niners knelt out the half, San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams escaped ejection despite appearing to punch Giants defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson. Both Williams and Robinson were flagged for offsetting personal fouls.
Asked about the incident after the game by The Athletic's Matt Barrows for the NFL's pool report, referee Walt Anderson explained officials could not see evidence to suggest Williams' offense was egregious as it looked to most.
"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," Anderson said.
"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."
"These are judgment calls and a lot of times you might end up having an open hand, often a stiff arm to the face, versus a closed fist punch, which certainly carries a different weight to it. So, we ended up looking at the available video we had and just didn’t feel like the actions rose to the level of flagrant. You can certainly end up having contact with hands to the helmet, and some of those actions would be deemed a punch, others would not.
“We couldn’t confirm that 100 percent from the standpoint of was it truly a closed fist with a strike. We just couldn’t determine that.”
Anderson's explanation will likely make many, especially Giants fans, scoff.
Williams, for his part, made light of the incident between him and Robinson, with whom he apparently does not get along, their history dating back to the Giants defender's time with the 49ers' rivals the Rams.
"Just mixing it up man, a lot of tempers flaring out there, sometimes things boil over a little bit," said Williams.
Asked if he should be fined, Williams said: "I don't think so. It was a love tap."
Brock Purdy just came through one of the biggest challenges of his young 49ers career
It was a true trial by fire.
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