In things that we didn’t expect to hear after the Minnesota Vikings’ deflating 20-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in front of a national audience, CeeDee Lamb has accused Harrison Smith of choking him as he tackled him near the sidelines. Video has surfaced on Reddit that appears to back his claims.
The play was not flagged, which seems odd in a game where Randy Gregory was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct twice on a drive late in the game. In the video, Smith is seen dragging Lamb to the ground, and both players slide out of bounds. It’s unclear where Smith’s hand is placed on Lamb’s body, but Lamb uses both hands to point at his neck as he’s going out of bounds.
Lamb can be seen complaining about being choked on the sidelines in a YouTube video on the Dallas Cowboys YouTube channel. “Man was choking the (life) out of me one the sideline,” he yells to Cedrick Wilson while seated on the Cowboys bench.
This would be out of character for Harrison Smith, who is not seen as a dirty player around the league. However, he was flagged for a hit on Lamb last season. Mike Zimmer insisted that it was a clean hit at the time. Looking back at the video, Smith appears to hit lamb in the chest.
Smith has complained about how hits are regulated in the league now, but he has tried to adjust his game to stay on the field. The Cowboys’ website has a mailbag post about the issue and suggests he will be fined. The Vikings presumably would like to put this game behind them and move on to Baltimore.
