The San Francisco 49ers’ clash with the Detroit Lions briefly descended into chaos on Monday night when a player violently shoved an opponent out of the end zone and into a row of spectators.
Midway through the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium, tempers first flared between 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings and Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold when they grabbed hold of each other at the end of a San Francisco play.
The two players continued dragged each other to the back of the end zone as they continued to tussle, before Arnold fell to the ground and pulled Jennings down with him.
Yet after returning to their feet, Arnold’s Detroit teammate Kerby Joseph took things even further by running over and pushing Jennings into a row of spectators.
Arnold then casually strolled back over to the San Francisco star and slapped him on the helmet as he laid helplessly over the end-zone barrier, before a furious Jennings got back up and pushed him away.
Two officials quickly intervened to prevent Jennings and Arnold from still going at it, before another Lions player, Levi Onwuzurike, eventually pulled the latter away.
49ers star Jauan Jennings was shoved into the crowd and slapped by Lions players Monday
The game briefly descended chaos after Jennings grappled with Detroit’s Kerby Joseph
Joseph and Jennings were both called for personal foul penalties after the whistle on the play.
The shocking push on Jennings is not the first time Joseph has sparked controversy with his aggressive actions on the field.
As recently as December 6, NFL fans were left outraged when he dove low towards the Green Bay Packers’ Tucker Kraft and nearly hit him in the knee.
Kraft was running with the ball after a catch in the third quarter when Joseph launched himself helmet-first towards the tight end.
The Green Bay player managed to hop out of the way before being tackled by a pair of Joseph’s teammates, but fans were quick to criticize the ‘dirty’ defensive back – who has delivered some controversial low hits before.
Joseph delivered two season-ending hits, as low tackles to the knees of T.J. Hockenson and Tyler Higbee caused both tight ends to tear their ACLs.
