On the last play of Thursday night’s game between the Redskins and the Giants, ‘Skins left tackle Chris Samuels dragged down Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka from behind, prompting Kiwanuka to grab at the area above his ankle after the play.
It was a scary moment for Giants fans, and the broadcast was over before anyone had any idea as to Kiwanuka’s status.
But Giants fans can exhale this morning; x-rays were negative and Kiwanuka was walking around the locker room after the game.
“When he went down, I know you were just like me: ‘Aw, get out of here. Not again,’” defensive end Justin Tuck said to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Though the Giants avoided losing their third defensive end since Super Bowl XLII, Tuck suggested that the move by Samuels wasn’t an accident.
“You never think a guy’s out there trying to hurt another guy, but it happened and we move on from it,” Tuck said. “Obviously it ruffled some feathers.”
It’ll be interesting to see if those feathers are unruffled when these two teams get together again on November 30.
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IL_Pack_fan, a Cheerleader, on 9/5/08 at 8:00 am
Looked like an accident to me. Samuels got beat around the edge, and tried to spin to continue protection, and he tripped over his own feet. Add in a little holding that spun him around more, and he fell on top of Kiwanuka.
Had it been intentional, Samuels would probably not have stopped and bent over to check on Kiwanuka. Samuels was there at least until the Giants trainers were there, maybe longer, I’m not sure since coverage was cut so soon.
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Bill In DC, a Head Coach, on 9/5/08 at 8:07 am
That’s good to hear. I never like seeing players getting hurt.
Maybe it was payback for Jacobs low class head slapping after a play in the 1st qtr. I still can’t believe the guy didn’t get penalized for that. If I was the Ref I’d have tossed him. What a jerk.
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RevSkip, a Head Coach, on 9/5/08 at 11:31 am
He held his legs well after Kiwanuka was going down to the ground. Very dirty. Still no real harm done and if I were a Skin I would be a bit frustrated after the way the Giants D owned them last night.
As for Jacobs head slap that wasn’t nearly as dirty as the headbutt that Pete Kendall threw at a helmetless Antonio Pierce. That will get him fined, hopefully a nice big number. What a total turd.
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phrustrated, a Cheerleader, on 9/5/08 at 2:45 pm
I agree with IL_Pack_fan - it looked like an accident.
Immediately after it occurred, Samuels went up to his knees and threw his arms out and lifted his head in apparent disgust. He wasn’t flagged (so this wasn’t due to a penalty), the QB was still scrambling (so he didn’t yet know the result of the play), and Kiwanuka was neutralized, albeit writhing in pain. Therefore, I suspect Samuels was pissed that he got beaten and/or that he injured a player in the process. The fact that he stuck around after the play was over and the trainers arrived reinforces the latter.
Given most inhabitants of the NFL are outright cretins, I may be putting too much stock in this gesture, but my interpretation was one of solid sportsmanship.
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