In the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ win over the Cowboys on Sunday, Seattle receiver Golden Tate delivered a brutal blindside block to Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee. Tate was not fined for it, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he should have been.
Jones said after the game that the league office will fine Tate because Tate’s helmet made contact with Lee’s helmet on the play.
“I’m sure they will,” Jones said, via ESPNDallas.com. “We saw the same thing you saw. That’s certainly something we know or expect penalties and fines about. They didn’t see the helmet hit or they would have called it.”
Lee left the game briefly to be evaluated for a concussion, but he was apparently OK because he returned to the field. Tate celebrated after knocking Lee to the ground, which wasn’t exactly the classiest display you’ll ever see, but Lee said he didn’t mind.
“That’s part of the deal,” Lee said. “He can celebrate all he wants. I bet you if we went head-to-head and square up he probably won’t be celebrating as much. It’s part of the deal and part of football, and hits like that happen.”
For his part, Tate said his block was not helmet to helmet, although he added that he doesn’t really know what the rules are regarding whether a linebacker in pursuit like Lee was on the play is considered a defenseless player.
“I wasn’t sure,” Tate said. “I knew that I didn’t hit him in his helmet. I hit him somewhere down here [at chest level]. But the rules change so much that you never really know. I’m happy that it wasn’t.”
There was a flag for a personal foul on the play, but it was Cowboys linebacker Bruce Carter who drew it, for a minor shove of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson just as Wilson stepped out of bounds. It’s bizarre that Carter is penalized for something so minor while Tate isn’t penalized for a major collision, but a lot of the calls in the NFL this Sunday were bizarre.