Former Chiefs player defends Charger who was ejected for dangerous hit
Chargers safety Tony Jefferson drew the ire of Chiefs players and fans during Sunday’s game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jefferson delivered a huge hit that temporarily knocked Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice from the game. That was a clean shot. A short while later, Jefferson put a helmet-to-helmet hit on Tyquan Thornton, who also left the game.
The hit on Thornton angered Chiefs players and tempers flared on the field. CBS Sports shared video of the kerfuffle online.
Chiefs players clearly were not happy with Jefferson, who was disqualified from the game for the hit. When he left the field, Jefferson flipped off the fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I saw a football play is what I saw,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said of Jefferson.
So did former Chiefs wide receiver Gehrig Dieter, who praised Jefferson for big hits on KC players in a now-deleted X message.
A fan said Jefferson shouldn’t have been ejected and Dieter responded: “Agreed. Nowhere else to hit him on that one. Ejections are dumb unless it’s a punch or something similar.”
Someone said it was a helmet-to-helmet hit by Jefferson, but Dieter wrote: “Clean hit IMO.”
The game officials obviously disagreed because Jefferson was ejected.
This story was originally published December 15, 2025 at 9:58 AM.
