Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson has accused members of the Detroit Lions of inappropriately touching him and his teammates during a key play leading to the Bills’ victory on Sunday.
After the game, Johnson accused the Lions of violating the rules by engaging in inappropriately rough conduct, such as “gouging eyes” and “grabbing balls.” And he doesn’t mean footballs.
Johnson claimed the Lions conducted a “whole lotta pulling, a whole lotta pinching, putting fingers where they not supposed to be and all that stuff. We did a good job on that play.”
“You got guys grabbing your balls, punching you in the chest, gouging your eyes. In the fumble pile, everything gets whacked,” he continued. “You’ve got 330-pound men jumping on you. Let me tell ya, get hit by guys that size with pads and helmets, and it gets ugly fast.”
He noted that the pile seems to be a signal for everyone to break the rules.
“In the pile, we used a different language. Part Greek. Part Italian. Part filth. ‘You fucking cocksucker, I’m gonna kill you.’ Guys would purposely go without brushing their teeth and eat garlic for five days straight. You’d be down there and pick up some rank smell and tell yourself, ‘I don’t want to know what that is.'”
The league tightened the rules for onside kicks, and since 2018, the play has been slowly disappearing because it lacks effectiveness. However, there has recently been some talk about somehow changing the rules to bring the play back into use.
The play certainly didn’t do the Lions any favors since it gave the Bills a more favorable chance to win the game, which they did with a 48-42 final.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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