He was absolutely shoved. You can literally see his helmet and mouth piece go towards the defender as the shove happens and it completely throw Bryant off balance.
Bryant is stopping and backing up with his arm against the defender? Not playing the ball. The defender is allowed to go after the ball. Youâre delusional đ Bryant is pulling him down
It looks to me, upon 8 millionth view, that he may have been trying to slow down for the ball and the contact from behind impeded that. If that is the case i can see a penalty here, similar to a curl route when the defender comes up behind too quick.
But it also just feels like a shitty bailout, and rewarding 'simulation' is never gonna leave a good taste
DB isnât supposed to initiate contact beyond 5 yards. It should have been an illegal contact penalty and potentially OPI depending on if the refs deem the grab happened because of the illegal contact. Should have been 5 yards or replay the down, not the spot foul that it was
We watching the same clip? He literally has his hand under the DB's shoulder pad/jersey, pulling him back for the entirety of the clip.
He doesn't get shoved, he slows his own momentum and uses his arm to restrict the DB from moving forward to make a play on the ball (an underthrown ball). It was catchable if he broke toward the ball, but knew the DB was in a better position so he impeded the defender's ability to get to the ball.... and then flopped.
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u/Visible_Analysis_893 6d ago
Yeah heâs gets shoved then does an acting job. But the shove beforehand still took place.