National Football League

Pulling hair leads to penalty against Lions' Suh

Published Nov. 21, 2010 11:57 p.m. ET

foxsports

Lions rookie Ndamukong Suh grabbed a handful of Marion Barber's long-flowing dreadlocks and yanked the Dallas Cowboys running back to the ground.

Then came a penalty flag, though hair-pulling isn't against the rules.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz said after the 35-19 loss that referees told him that the penalty was a personal foul for a horse-collar tackle. Replays, however, showed that Suh grabbed Barber's hair, not the shoulder pads.

''They said he didn't pull his hair, that they got a horse-collar,'' Schwartz said. ''I saw what you saw. That was a huge penalty. It gave them another chance.''

The penalty early in the fourth quarter gave Dallas a first down at the Detroit 5, setting up Jon Kitna's 4-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin for a 28-19 lead.

''You could tell that he pulled his hair,'' defensive tackle Corey Williams said. ''But they made that call and that's what it is. ... There is nothing we can do about it. Once the ref makes the call, they make the final call.''

There was another horse-collar penalty called on the Lions against Barber later in the game. Replays showed Julian Peterson did commit that foul.