NFL referee Shawn Smith calls Jadeveon Clowney’s hit on Carson Wentz “incidental” contact

The Philadelphia Eagles suffered another devasting 17-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, this time in the Wild Card round of the NFC Playoffs.

The Eagles season ends with a 9-8 record and things went downhill after a Wentz scramble resulted in a concussion after he took a nasty hit from Jadeveon Clowney.

Still can’t believe this hit. Clowney deserves to be fined at the very least. pic.twitter.com/UnroRisgDI

— ourSF49ers (@OSf49ers) January 6, 2020

Wentz was forced to leave the game, but there was no penalty on the play after the game, referee Shawn Smith gave this explanation for why Clowney wasn’t charged with a roughing the passer penalty.

NFL referee Shawn Smith on what he saw on the field for Clowney's hit: "He was a runner and he did not give himself up. We saw incidental contact, and in our judgment, we didn't rule that to be a foul."

— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) January 6, 2020

When asked about it, Clowney called it “a bang-bang play” and stated that “he didn’t intend to hurt nobody in this league.”

Photos from Philly Fan HND shows Wentz actually did give himself up as a runner on the play when he stretched out head first for yardage.

1.- Being tackled, given up, on the way down. Clowney looking at Wentz and sizing him up.
2.- Leading with Helmet already, Wentz still going down
3.- Wentz looking at the first down before he is hit
4.- Wentz driven to the ground after hit pic.twitter.com/hVQDQqCHac

— Last name Ramos 🦅 (@PhillyFanHND) January 5, 2020

Once Wentz started head first, there’s no way he could be considered a runner still trying to amass yardage.