Teair Tart, defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Chargers, slapped Travis Kelce, who plays tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, after taking a loss on Friday night. This led Chiefs head coach Andy Reid to question why Teair was not ejected right away and why he was allowed to play, despite what seemed to be a straightforward offence.
There have been many instances when players have been ejected for the first shot. A full-on hit to head generally warrants such a penalty, however, it is up to the discretion of officials it seems.
In an interview, Andy said that he doesn't understand that rule.
"I guess it's open-hand, fist, whatever, I don't know. I don't know what their decision was on that. But he definitely got hit in the head pretty hard whether it was an open first or a closed fist."
"I'll work out that with the league," he added.
In the NFL rulebook, under the section called “Automatic Disqualification,” there’s a rule about fighting or throwing punches during a game.
A player is allowed to throw up to two punches in a game without being automatically ejected. If a player throws a third punch, that’s when the automatic disqualification, meaning an automatic ejection from the game, kicks in.
However, this doesn’t mean throwing punches is completely okay. Even one punch can still lead to penalties, fines, or suspension, depending on how serious the situation is.
In Teair Tart’s case, if his helmet slap or any punch wasn’t considered excessive or part of a third offense, he wouldn’t have been automatically ejected under this rule.
The section includes an addendum allowing discretion for officials to eject a player for the first instance of unsportsmanlike conduct if it is deemed "flagrant".
There is also a separate section under the rulebook's "Player Conduct," which calls for an automatic 15-yard penalty for players, who strike an opponent with his fists, but doesn't require an ejection. It is possible that Teair was not ejected because he used bare hands, but it is not known for certain.