DeAngelo Hall, Mike Smith Fight Turns Into Mugging (VIDEO)

Every once in a while, tempers flare in the NFL and the players, in the heat of the moment, will get into a fight, seemingly forgetting that they are wearing body armor and helmets.

Seriously, does anyone ever actually get hurt in an NFL fight? I mean, you would pretty much need to have about 20 guys on one in order for someone to get hurt.

Well, that's exactly what happened on Sunday when the Washington Redskins faced the Atlanta Falcons.

It all started with what Atlanta perceived as a late hit on Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan by the Redskins' LaRon Landry. I say "perceived" because it's really not that blatant as Ryan technically was not yet out of bounds when he was hit, as evidenced below...

The real story here is the Redskins' DeAngelo Hall. Ryan and Landry seem to work out their differences and return to the playing field, but Hall is left on the sideline, enveloped by enemy jerseys and a couple of enemy coaches...

From here, things really get interesting, and the Falcons, for some dumb reason, call in reinforcements.

Suddenly DeAngelo Hall is surrounded by about 20 opposing, red jerseys...

Oh, and that mild-mannered citizen groping Hall appears to be Falcons Director of Performance, Jeff Fish.

Let me be clear about this. Coaches don't touch players in a fight. Ever. The video (below) doesn't seem to show Hall going after any coaches...quite the opposite. He is completely outnumbered and surrounded.

This thing should end quickly. Just send Hall packing...get him back out on to the field and move on.

Not so fast.

For some reason, this thing escalates and now Fish and Falcons' coach Mike Smith are getting in Hall's face (note, still no other Redskins here...he's still way outnumbered)...

Why DeAngelo Hall doesn't just squash the two of them right then and there, I don't know.

Sure, he's surrounded, but at least take out the two clowns who think they have a right to be touching him.

Then, to top it all off, coach Smith throws an elbow. Yes, seriously...

Reverse angle...

Finally, the Skins' Justin Tryon and Chris Horton show up to save the day and get DeAngelo Hall the hell out of there, and the rest of the defensive line eventually decides it might be a good idea to provide some back up as well (took them long enough!).

Albert Haynesworth also shows up and things really even out, and the Falcons sensibly retreat...

Still, the big story here is the fact that two coaches got involved in what was already a very lopsided affair.

Here is Hall's side of the story:

"I ran over there to kind of pull my guy away. One of their strength and conditioning coaches put his hands on me and started grabbing me. Then it went to various other guys pulling at me and grabbing me. Through the whole time, I'm trying to get the guys' hands off of me.

"Later on, coach Smith, Mike came over and grabbed me, talking [stuff] to me. Saying he'll kick my [butt] and all this other [stuff]. I definitely stay in Atlanta in the offseason. So if Mike Smith wants to see me, he can find me."

Seems reasonable enough, given the video footage.

Hall also plans to formally file a complaint with Roger Goodell:

"I can’t wait for guys to sit back and watch the replay. I can’t wait to watch the replay. I’m going to be giving Commissioner [Roger] Goodell a call myself because something needs to be done about that."

As for coach Mike Smith, here's his side of the story:

"There were a bunch of guys on that sideline. Some of them were wearing black helmets and some of them were wearing maroon helmets. I can't tell you anything more about it.

"Our quarterback was hit late, and there was a skirmish over there. All I was trying to do was restore order to the sideline and did not want to get into a situation where any of our guys were injured. That was my view of it."

Really? Actually, there weren't some guys in maroon helmets (burgundy, really)...there was just one.

This is inexcusable. By the way, I'm not a Redskins fan. I'm from Baltimore and I'm a Ravens fan. Lucky me.

I have looked at this situation objectively from both sides. I've read blogs today covering the Redskins' side of the story as well as the Falcons' side of the story.

This was nothing short of a mugging and, if the league doesn't suspend and fine these coaches, then we might as well just put them in pads and throw them out onto the field.

Here is the full video...