Steelers Player Karate Kicks Browns Punter In The Face, Gets 15-Yard Penalty

It's pretty rare that you see a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty called on a player who has the ball, but that's what we got in Week 1's Steelers-Browns game.

On a punt return in the second quarter, Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown delivered a flying kick to the head of Cleveland punter Spencer Lanning, who was trying to make a tackle.

Brown was slowed, but continued running and gained an extra six or seven yards. He was flagged for a 15-yard penalty.

Goodness:

It looks more vicious from this angle:

It appears that he was trying to hurdle Lanning, but ending up coming down on his face accidentally.

Fox officiating expert Mike Pereira said that he had never seen a play like this before, but it was the correct call. Hurdling defenders used to be illegal altogether. He added that Brown could be fined.

Pittsburgh went on to grab a 24-3 lead, so the penalty wasn't that harmful: