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Houston Texans cornerback Kris Boyd has issued an apology to the team’s special teams coordinator after pushing him in frustration during a playoffs game.
During the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday (January 18, the Texans played against the Kansas City Chiefs and Boyd appeared to get upset during the first quarter of the game.
Boyd threw his helmet on the ground, which caused his team to receive a penalty and gave the Chiefs an advantage. Then, he pushed the special team’s coordinator, Frank Ross.
While speaking to reporters after the game, Boyd admitted that he let the situation escalate too far. “I was just too excited. I did something I shouldn’t have done,” he said. “That’s not in my character. I love everybody here. I love all my coaches. I would never disrespect nobody. … I love Frank. … I respect everybody in that building.”
The cornerback added that he apologized to Ross in person and he learned the lesson to “play smart.”
“He [Ross] was just telling me, ‘You can’t do things like that. Just keep your composure. That was six seconds at the beginning of the game. We have a whole other ball game to play. Let’s lock in, hone in on our details, and play smart,’” Boyd said.
The Texans went on to lose the game with a final score of 23 to 14.
The Texans’s coach, DeMeco Ryans, also touched on Boyd’s early penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, emphasizing that the team doesn’t teach its players to act like that.
“What I saw is we can’t come out on the first play and throw our helmet. That is silly,” Ryans said. “That’s not what we teach. That’s not what we are about at all.”
“For us to be here at this moment — to throw our helmet — we know the rules. We know we can’t do that and it just puts the team in a negative light to start the game. We give up a big return and we take our helmet off to add 15 more yards to the play. That’s just not smart football.”
Many people took to X (formerly Twitter) after the incident to ask for Boyd to be punished further for pushing a coach.
“Texans need to cut Kris Boyd immediately after this game. Stupid way to start the game for his teammates. Absolutely cannot push your coach either. Inexcusable,” one person wrote.
Another X user agreed, writing, “Kris Boyd commits 15 yard penalty, then intentionally pushes his coach. He should be cut on the spot, and asked to leave the stadium ASAP.”
However, others were quick to form comparisons to Travis Kelce yelling at his coach, Andy Reid, during the 2024 Super Bowl.
“When kelce pushed his coach it was okay because he was frustrated but boyd does it and he needs to be cut and he’s violent?” one person questioned.
“Travis kelce pushed Andy Reed [sic] and it’s ‘passion for the game’ Kris Boyd pushes a coach and it’s ‘he should be kicked off the team’ lmao,” another person posted.
