Kyler Gordon shocked by 15-yard penalty for taking off his damaged helmet
Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon and Vikings wide receiver Brandon Powell had a scuffle during Monday night's game that saw Powell grab Gordon's facemask and yank it with such force that it broke some of the clips that attach the facemask to the helmet. If anyone was going to be flagged, it should have been Powell.
So imagine Gordon's shock when the referee announced a 15-yard penalty — not on Powell, but on Gordon, for removing his damaged helmet.
Gordon said after the game that the officials thought he had taken off his helmet to taunt Powell, but in reality he couldn't taunt Powell because he was too busy trying to free his facemask from Powell's grip.
“It’s hard to taunt when you're pulling someone’s face down," Gordon said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.
Gordon held up his damaged helmet to show the officials why he took it off, and Bears head coach Matt Eberflus yelled to the referee to try to get him to understand what happened, but to no avail: The 15-yard penalty went against the Bears, and Powell got away with it.
