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NFL suspends Cowboys DT Trysten Hill 2 games for throwing punch vs. Raiders

Jack Baer
·Staff writer
·2 min read

A reported COVID-19 outbreak won't be the only thing keeping Dallas Cowboys players off the field on Thursday.

The NFL has suspended Trysten Hill for two games after the Cowboys defensive tackle threw a punch at Las Vegas Raiders offensive lineman John Simpson in the aftermath of last week's Thanksgiving game.

The incident occurred as the two teams were exchanging handshakes following a 36-33 Raiders win in overtime.

In the NFL's statement announcing the suspension, NFL VP of Football Operations Jon Runyan cited rules forbidding striking other players and breaches of sportsmanship. Per the statement, Hill received the following letter from Runyan:

"After the Las Vegas Raiders-Dallas Cowboys game on November 25, you engaged in conduct that this office considers unnecessary roughness and displays a lack of sportsmanship. Specifically, as both teams were shaking hands, you waited more than 50 seconds for your opponent at the 50-yard line. When you located him, you then walked toward him in the opposite direction of your locker room. You both engaged in a verbal chest-to-chest confrontation which you escalated by throwing an open hand punch to his facemask, forcible enough to cause your opponent's helmet to come off."

Hill still has the right to appeal the discipline.

If not appealed, the suspension will keep Hill out for this week's "Thursday Night Football" game against the New Orleans Saints as well as next week's game against the Washington Football Team. He will also reportedly lose $100,000 in forfeited salary.

A second-rounder in the 2019 NFL draft, Hill isn't a huge loss for the Cowboys. He has recorded a total of eight tackles and one QB hit this season, and hasn't recorded a single sack in his three-year NFL career. This also isn't Hill's first NFL discipline, as he received two fines in 2020 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Russell Wilson and a leg twist on Chris Carson that sprained the running back's knee.