Sam Howell took a trio of big shots en route to a touchdown during Sunday’s game between the Washington Commanders and New York Giants. A touchdown was called on the field after his second effort, but he did not see the signal and continued to push into the end zone.
As Howell continued to run, the Giants defense continued to try and keep him from scoring. A big hit from safety Xavier McKinney sent the second-year quarterback to the ground at the end of the play.
It did not go over well with Commanders wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who ran over and shoved McKinney. The shove did not go over well with cornerback Cor’Dale Flott, who turned back and retaliated on Samuel.
And then things got ugly. A pretty nasty brawl broke out between the two sides.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving. Punches were thrown. Players on both teams grabbed each other by the facemask or by the neck. Samuel even lost his helmet.
The dust finally settled after a solid 30 seconds and both teams were separated.
Samuel and Flott were both ejected after some deliberation from the officiating crew. Both teams received personal foul penalties, which ultimately offset.
Although the fight began because of a hit on Howell, who stayed down for awhile to catch his breath but later jogged to the sideline without issue, tension was already high because of a pretty obvious late hit that was not called earlier in the second quarter. Perhaps the skirmish in the end zone was a result of pent-up frustration and oversensitivity.
Either way, Samuel and Flott were sent to the locker room. They will likely be fined by the NFL for their role in the incident. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. It could’ve been worse!