You're Still Allowed To Hit People In The NFL After All

A lot of Eagles fan got butthurt when Dwayne Harris hit an Eagles defender on a punt in the fourth quarter of Thursday's game. Here's the hit in all its righteous glory.

Harris blocked the Eagles player to prevent the ball from being downed close to the goal line.

The hit was flagged by the referees, who later added another level of ridiculousness to the whole thing when referee Clete Blakeman explained that Harris had been flagged because "he hit him too hard unnecessarily."

There is no such thing as "too hard" in the NFL Rule book, and the NFL today acknowledged that Harris should not have been flagged for unnecessary roughness for the hit.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said he heard back from NFL on Dwayne Harris penalty: "They agreed with us. They thought it was a legal play."

— Brandon George (@DMN_George) December 1, 2014

Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram explains why the Cowboys believed it was a legal hit, a position the NFL agreed with.

The Cowboys sent a tape of the play into the league and got an email back confirming that Harris’ hit was legal and a flag should not have been thrown, coach Jason Garrett said Sunday.

Garrett said the Cowboys teach the returner that he can block the defender if he doesn’t call a fair catch. That’s what special teams coach Rich Bisaccia instructed Harris to do that play because a previous punt had been downed at the 4. So that’s what Harris did.