NFL ref gets hit in the head while announcing penalty

While announcing a penalty on the Detroit Lions, an NFL referee got hit in the head. Retaliation for the call from the Lions?

When your occupation is on the gridiron, you’re, by default, in harm’s way. Still, most NFL referees can feel pretty safe while they’re announcing penalties because gameplay has stopped. That general notion was challenged during Week 7.

As he was announcing a penalty, Adrian Hill, the referee for Lions vs Cowboys, was hit in the head with a football thrown his way by a Lions player.

Retaliation for the flag thrown against the team?

https://twitter.com/nfl_dovkleiman/status/1584241089099489281

In reality, it was probably just a player throwing the ball back to an official after the play ended, not realizing he was about to announce a penalty and not paying attention. Probably an honest mistake. Hill cracked a smile after he was hit so you can tell he understood it was an accident.

Jamaal Williams, who threw the ball, rushed up to apologize profusely for the mistake but another official pushed him away while the penalty was being announced.

Not the first time a referee has been hit on the job

Being a referee is not a danger-free job. Over the years, plenty of unintentional hits due to players or referees having their attention tunneled on another area of the field have unfortunately occurred.

Usually, there aren’t injuries to the officials on the field, but there are instances where it happens.

Considering some of the hits in the past, Adrian Hill made out alright in this incident. Glad he can laugh it off. But if we see a few extra penalties going the Lion’s way, maybe we know why…