Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill insists he did not remove his helmet after TD catch
The Chiefs finally struck with the big play. But it didn’t come without a bit of dissension.
Patrick Mahomes found Tyreek Hill on a rollout for a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 23-20 overtime win against the Chargers, both a spectacular pass and catch that accounted for the Chiefs’ first completion of the season in which the ball traveled 20 yards downfield in the air.
But the Chargers wanted a penalty after the play.
After a summersault into the end zone, in which his head hit the ground, Hill grabbed his facemask and appeared to remove his helmet. But he insisted the helmet was already in the process of coming off, and it did easily slip over his head.
If a player voluntarily removes his helmet on the field, it’s a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which would have been a significant call, with the Chiefs trying for the 2-point conversion on the ensuing game. They completed it to tie the game.
Hill was adamant that’s not what happened.
“When I fell, my helmet came off,” he said. “I would never take my helmet off. I feel like when I’m on the field, it’s my responsibility to always keep my helmet on. That’s one of Coach (Andy) Reid’s biggest pet peeves — him and E.B. (Eric Bieniemy) — taking your helmet off after a touchdown. I would never do that. If it did look like that, I promise you I didn’t take my helmet off. It was coming off. My helmet came off.”
The play advanced without a flag — much to Chargers coach Anthony Lynn’s distress.
“The referees are human beings — they missed it,” Lynn told reporters in a postgame Zoom call. “I told them that he took his helmet off. They missed that one. Those refs, they did an outstanding job. I thought they called a really good game. It was very competitive on both sides. But they missed that one.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill insists he did not remove his helmet after TD catch."