Yes, I agree with you on that.
I’m not condoning his behavior.
Do you know what both of those players have in common? They were college teammates of the injured player. They were concerned about their friend.
If my friend was hurt, I would not be showing my concern by violently pushing away the medically-trained professionals trying to help him.
If anything, that makes what they did even worse. What the fuck kind of shitty friends are those guys?!
Correct, but not quite what @Jasmine described.
Carolina was down 6 to the Falcons when they connected on a 62 yard TD pass with 23 seconds left. The pass catcher, wide receiver D.J. Moore, took off his helmet during the celebration, and that’s a no-no. The 15-yard penalty was enforced on the extra point, which made it a 48-yard try. It failed, the game went into OT, and the Falcons eventually won, 37-34.
Now, had the Panthers won that game, and everything else played out the same, they would have finished 9-8, same as Tampa Bay, with whom they split the two games. But the first tiebreaker for the division, after head-to-head, is the divisional record. Carolina would have had a 5-1 divisional record, compared to TB’s 4-2. So this bonehead play did indeed cost Carolina a divisional championship and a spot in the playoffs.
So they shove and intimidate the medical staff going to work on him? Makes perfect sense. 
That fits what I remember, yes. D.J. went from thrilled at the touchdown to mortified that he effectively cost his team the extra point.
Yep, my bad!
Holy guacamole! 
He’ll never make that mistake again. Unlike Walker who has been disqualified twice this season for pushing medical staff.
In an emotionally-charged moment, many people (including, but by no means limited to, young and impulsive football players) can and do take actions that are irrational and foolish, and which they come to regret a moment later.
I, too, am not excusing their actions (which were, in fact, irrational and foolish), but I’ve seen many comments on this board over the years indicating the opinion that anyone who does not act in a perfectly rational and thoughtful manner at all times has something wrong with them.
That’s why I initially said that the only (very tentative) defense I can offer for Quay is that he’s so young.
Although he’s done this twice in this year. I don’t think he has had enough regret to learn from it.
If you are standing over your injured friend and someone grabs you from behind in less than a second you are going to recognize that person is there to help them?
He screwed up, acknowledged it and apologized. End of story.
Yeah, I really doubt he made the connection in his head of “this guy pushing me out of the way is coming to help my injured friend.” Like, I never thought I would be defending a Packers player, but it’s clear he got caught up in the moment, did something incredibly stupid, regrets it, and apologized both publicly and in person to the guy. So I’m not sure what more there is to say?
I’d say that if it never happens again, no big deal.
If it happens again next year, for the third time (getting physical with a non-player), he’s a problem.
ETA: Let me add, I really, really hope that teams are teaching players that if someone is hurt and you have people coming onto the field to help, get out of their way. Give them space. That needs to be emphasized if it isn’t already.
Excellent username-IQ combo.
For me, the “what more” is in the form of a question. What “moment” was he caught up in? There was a play, and an opposing player was injured. The opposing team’s medical staff came onto the field. This happens dozens of times a year in pretty much every game. What special “moment” made this case different?
Quay Walker is not a child who can’t be expected to control his emotions. He’s a grown-ass man who’s paid millions of dollars to play a fucking game. If he can’t figure out when another man is there to help his hurt friend, and keep himself from two-handed shoving him from behind, that’s a goddamn problem. And having a PR-prompted apology isn’t going to hand-wave that away. There was no “moment” to be caught up in, ffs.
And what about Wyatt? He saw his teammate shove medical staff, that medical staff turned to look at Quay, and so he steps up on the medical staffer like he’s gonna protect his teammate or something?
This team culture is shit.
Q.E.D.
Basically, if he didn’t apologize, the response would be “this asshole didn’t even apologize” and if he did, the response would be “he only did that for PR reasons.”
That calls for a link to the Greatest Play in Football History.
Dude runs down the field for an unopposed touchdown, spikes the ball on the 1 yard line, and almost his whole team is too busy celebrating in the end zone to notice that the other team has picked up the ball and taken it 99 yards the other way.
Jeez, I had forgotten all about that play. Thanks for the reminder!
And, yes, perhaps the biggest bonehead play in football history.