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Ray-Ray McCloud Punched C.J. Gardner-Johnson Right in Front of an Official

The Falcons receiver was flagged for hitting the Eagles safety.

Ryan Phillips

McCloud punched the Eagles safety and was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
McCloud punched the Eagles safety and was penalized for unnecessary roughness. /
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Ray-Ray McCloud III followed up a great play with a boneheaded penalty.

In the middle of a long drive late in the second quarter, the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver had a really nice 18-yard gain for a first down. His catch took the ball to the Philadelphia Eagles' 23-yard line and gave his team momentum. That is, until he messed it all up.

Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson pulled off McCloud's mouthpiece and the receiver responded by punching him in the facemask. And he did it right in front of a referee.

That wasn't an incredibly violent punch, it was more pushing his balled up fist into Gardner-Johnson's facemask, but still. That was really dumb. That's usually an automatic ejection, so McCloud is lucky to still be in the game.

He was flagged 15-yards for unnecessary roughness. The Falcons settled for a field goal and trail the Eagles 7-6 at the half.

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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

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