Cardinals OL Will Hernandez Got Ejected After Bumping An Official

Tempers flared during the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers game on Sunday and ended with Cardinals offensive lineman Will Hernandez being told to take an early shower.

Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu delivered a shot to Cardinals running back James Conner after the play had been blown dead. Hernandez was nearby and stepped in to defend his teammate.

The only problem was that in the process he bumped into an official.

There should be zero tolerance for physically assaulting officials. However, maybe there needs to be a fraction of a percent of tolerance because that being ejection worthy is completely wild.

First, let's look at the severity of the bump. I was at a concert last week and took an errant shoulder to the solar plexus harder than that. Want to know what I did? I didn't call security to eject the guy, I just kept rockin'. That's what I did.

I guarantee you've been accidentally run into harder in grocery stores and on sidewalks and thought nothing of it.

Second, let's gauge intent. The officials knew full well that one of the Cardinals had been cheap-shotted and Hernandez was en route to defend him. I mean, you could argue that he was using that kerfuffle as a diversion to take a shot at the official, but doesn't that sound completely ridiculous?

It does.

At Least Show Some Consistency If Players Are Getting Ejected

It's a lot easier to officiate a game when there are no gray areas to speak of. Still, one of the other officials should've said, "Hey, man, that was clearly an accident."

Meanwhile, a pair of Panthers players — linebacker Cory Littleton and defensive end Brian Burns — also made contact with officials but got off scot-free.

If you're not going to allow for some case-by-case discretion, then show some consistency.

Or at the very least, try to.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle