Following an electrifying one-handed touchdown grab by DeAndre Hopkins, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had a brief physical encounter with a Buffalo Bills fan. And while such an encounter is normally the ultimate no-no for professional athletes, video of the incident, along with the commentary from Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, paints a different picture.
After the touchdown, Hopkins, Jackson and some of their teammates walked in front of the seats behind the end zone.
“A fan hits him (Hopkins) up on the head and then hits Lamar Jackson,” Tirico said, seeing the replay. And after that fan, who wasn’t celebrating at all, hit him, Jackson pushes the fan back. Obviously, both in the wrong there. But you can’t be pushing the players if you’re a fan there, as well. It wasn’t as though Hopkins was doing anything that he was extending himself into the crowd.”
“And I think Lamar saw the first one and then took one himself,” Collinsworth added. “I’m not excusing; I know there’s no way you’re allowed to go after fans in the stands, almost no matter what happens. But sometimes that gets a little ridiculous, too.”
“I’m not excusing; I know there’s no way you’re allowed to go after fans in the stands, almost no matter what happens. But sometimes that gets a little ridiculous too.” – Cris Collinsworth #NFL #SNF pic.twitter.com/pqEp1NVHe3
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2025
Video of the incident backs up what Tirico and Jackson said.
Hopkins and Jackson were simply walking in front of the fans. Neither went into the crowd nor even made a mocking gesture. The fan reached over the wall onto the field and hit both Hopkins and Jackson on the helmet. After Jackson was hit, he responded by shoving the fan back into his seat.
And while it wouldn’t have been OK, it’s unlikely that anything more would have happened had the fan simply hit Hopkins on the helmet and left it at that. But when he continued and hit Jackson on the head, what followed was a much more understandable response.