Antonio Brown goes all 'Street Fighter' on poor Browns punter

Published Sep. 7, 2014 2:08 p.m. ET

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Sid Saraf

There's roughing the punter and there's what the Steelers' Antonio Brown did on Sunday.

The wide receiver/punt returner was bringing a kick back against the Browns when this happened:

That's poor Browns punter Spencer Lanning just trying to make a play when Brown did his best Ryu imitation. Here's a closer view:

Just for good measure, why not check it out in a freeze frame?

By the way, we checked the NFL rulebook and article 12 under player conduct states this:

All players are prohibited from:

(a) striking an opponent with his fists;

(b) kicking or kneeing an opponent; or

(c) striking, swinging at, or clubbing the head, neck, or face of an opponent with the wrist(s), arm(s), elbow(s), or hand(s).

Exceptions

Contact to the head, neck, or face of an opponent with the palm of the hand is permitted by a defensive player:

(1) who is attempting to ward off an offensive player at the line of scrimmage, provided that it is not a repeated act against the same opponent during any one contact; or (2) in a personal attempt to recover a loose ball.

Pretty cut and dry. That's illegal. And the refs saw it and slapped Brown with a unnecessary roughness penalty.

For his part, Lanning laughed it off after the game, saying: "It was just like getting run over by somebody," Lanning said after the game. "I guess he felt he couldn't juke me so he tried to jump over me."

And then tweeting:

Fun fact: This isn't the first time a player has taken flight with a ferocious foot strike. Back in 1983, Detroit Lions running back Billy Sims did the same thing against the Houston Oilers. Check it out:

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