Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive lineman Miles Brown headbutted Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros with one minute remaining in the first half during the 59th Labour Day Classic.
During an appearance on 620 CKRM , Darian Durant was conflicted on his stance regarding the hit Brown put on Collaros.
“I’m not sure, looking from the camera angle, if it was helmet-to-helmet contact,” Durant told SportsCage host Barney Shynkaruk.
“When you’re a quarterback, you’re exposed and you threw the ball, you’d much rather a guy put his helmet in your chest and drive you to the ground rather than come and give you a forearm or a shoulder to the head.”
SportsCage co-host Maz McFly suggested a player who gives a headshot to a QB should be ejected from the game in the Canadian Football League.
“Absolutely. If you look at college football in the states, you get a targeting penalty. It doesn’t matter if it’s the quarterback or not,” Durant detailed.
The NCAA handbook definition for a targeting penalty in 2024 is as follows: “goes beyond making a legal tackle or a legal block or playing the ball.” Durant expanded when it comes to targeting penalties in football and how there can be a grey area, but he does not like helmet-to-helmet hits.
“Sometimes the quarterback in his follow-through, may duck a little and there may be some
incidental helmet-to-helmet [contact]. I understand that shouldn’t be called, but I don’t think a hit like that should be allowed when a guy has just thrown a ball, and his entire torso and head are open.”
The Roughriders next game will be on Saturday, September 7 when the team travels to Winnipeg for the Banjo Bowl against the Blue Bombers. Catch the 620 CKRM Rider Radio pregame show at 10 a.m. with kickoff at 1 p.m.