DeAngelo Williams is having a relatively quiet year for the Panthers. His yardage might be a little bit better if he didn’t keep getting tackled from behind when a defender grabs his dreadlocks.
It’s happened at least twice, including last week against Atlanta. Williams learned that it can be legal.
“I actually learned something about the call, that you can actually horse collar inside the tackles. I didn’t know that,” Williams said via the Charlotte Observer. “I thought a horse collar was a horse collar no matter where it was on the field.”
It’s legal to grab a player by the hair anywhere on the field. It’s considered the same as a jersey.
Pacman Jones made a memorably painful-looking tackle of Ravens wideout Torrey Smith by the dreads in November. That was legal too.
Williams has decided to lose the dreadlocks, although it doesn’t seem to be a strategical decision. It just hurts too much.
“That’s why it’s braided now,” he said.