DeAngelo Hall, Washington Redskins CB, says referee 'equally at fault' in incident - ESPN
DeAngelo Hall, who is facing NFL discipline for his incident with an official that led to his ejection Sunday, said Tuesday in a radio interview that the official "was equally at fault."
The outspoken Washington Redskins cornerback, who was ejected from the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers after taking off his helmet and berating head linesman Dana McKenzie, is scheduled to meet with commissioner Roger Goodell and faces possible suspension.
Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall is facing NFL discipline for his on-field confrontation with head linesman Dana McKenzie last Sunday.
"From that particular camera angle you can't see what that ref's saying to me. So it looks like I'm just out there giving him a piece of my mind and he's smiling and walks away. And that's not the case at all. He's dishing it out just as much as I'm dishing it out," Hall said in an appearance on the "LaVar and Dukes" show on 106.7 The Fan in Washington.
Hall, who is trying to get video from different camera angles of the incident "so you can see both sides," said he wants to meet with Goodell "to tell our side of the story, just like them."
"But me and the ref was equally at fault on that particular play," he said.
Goodell said Wednesday that a decision on discipline could be coming soon.
"You know, our football operations staff are looking at that. I got a briefing this morning on it. They are going through the process of evaluating and getting all the information and they'll be making a decision on that either today or tomorrow, I believe," he said in an appearance on SiriusXM Radio's "Madden Football" show.
Hall said that players are expected to respect the officials, but that it should go both ways.
"It's not a system in place where ... they're the good cops and we're the criminals. It has to be an even playing field, a level playing field," Hall said. "If they want us to go out there and respect them, they have to do the same thing. They have to give us the same kind of respect that I feel like we've been giving them as players, as referees that ultimately control some of the calls in these games. Nobody is going out there trying to bully the referees, and likewise they shouldn't be out there trying to bully us."
On Monday, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said the episode wouldn't have escalated if officials had flagged Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders for what the coach said was a "full nelson" wrestling move that put Hall on the ground.
"There's no question about it being a foul" on Sanders, Shanahan said.
Hall agreed that Sanders should have been flagged and said he tried to walk away from the Steelers receiver, who got in his "face and tries to, you know, talk trash. I immediately walk away from him, start talking to the ref."
"I'm just asking (the official) like, 'Did you not see what just took place right there?' ... For me to walk away from that incident and plead with the ref and beg like, 'Dude, what do I have to do to get a flag? The dude just slammed me. Nothing happened. I don't understand what you're looking at. If you're going to try to keep this game safe and the way it's supposed to be played, there's no way that particular play shouldn't have drawn a flag.'
Hall said that Sanders had already pulled his helmet "halfway off" and the Redskins had called a timeout.
"So helmets can come off during timeouts. So that wasn't why I got flagged for the helmet off and things like that. It was just a back and forth between me and that particular ref. And I can't go into too many details because it's still under review," he said.
Still, Shanahan on Monday didn't rule out some kind of team punishment for Hall, pending any league discipline.
"If there is something that occurs, you've got to be strong enough to stay away from it," Shanahan said. "That's part of being a good leader and a very smart football player."
On Wednesday, Shanahan said he didn't anticipate that Hall would be suspended for the incident.
Sanders will be headed for a meeting of his own with NFL officials, who want to discuss his fourth-quarter leg cramp in a 24-17 victory Oct. 21 against Cincinnati.
Sanders maintains he did nothing wrong when he suddenly dropped to the ground with the Steelers nursing a seven-point lead. Officials stopped play after Sanders lay on the turf, and television announcers suggested the third-year receiver was faking it so Pittsburgh could avoid using a timeout.
Sanders sat out one play and took in a small amount of fluids while team doctors massaged his calf before returning. He says the cramp was sudden but disappeared quickly after receiving medical attention. He says he's not sure when he'll meet with league officials.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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