Matt Jones on hair tackle: 'It didn't hurt or nothing'
Like many football players whose hair extends outside the helmet, Washington Redskins running back Matt Jones experienced what it’s like to get tackled by one’s 'do at the NFL level. And he insists it really doesn’t bother him and hasn’t really given him any desire to cut off his long locks.
Jones was brought down by the dreadlocks during last Sunday’s 23-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles when defensive end Fletcher Cox got a hold of his hair and didn’t let go. Jones described the experience to reporters Wednesday:
“He just grabbed a handful of my hair,” Jones said, via D.C. Sports Bog. “I just felt the whole momentum of it, of him pulling my hair, but it didn’t hurt or nothing. It happened to me one time in college; I didn’t feel that one either. I don’t know, I don’t guess [Cox] pulled it hard enough or something. I just didn’t feel it. My neck was a little sore after the game, though. Probably because of that, I think.”
Jones indicated he didn’t have any interaction with Cox after the unconventional tackle, and “just got up and walked back to the huddle, like ‘I’m cool.’ ”
Despite warnings by teammate Ricky Jean-Francois, who also sports longer hair, that opponents will continue to wrangle him to the ground by anything they can get their mitts on — including his dreadlocks. Jones, who admitted “it makes you think,” doesn’t think the threat of such a thing playing out on occasion will change his mind about his hairstyle.
“But I don’t think I’m going to cut it,” he said.
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