Elegant Sports

Former Texas Longhorns cornerback Kris Boyd is facing criticism after shoving Houston Texans special teams coordinator Frank Ross during the team’s divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.

Kansas City came away with a 23-14 win to advance to the AFC Championship.

The disruption started when Chiefs returner Nikko Remigio broke through the Texans coverage and started a run toward the end zone. Boyd caught him, and went to the sidelines to celebrate the fumble. What he didn’t know was that the Chiefs recovered the fumble.

Nov 24, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans cornerback Kris Boyd (17) celebrates after recovering a Tennessee Titans fumble in the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium.

Boyd proceeded to shove Ross on the sideline and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for removing and throwing his helmet. The Texans received a 15-yard penalty for the action.

Boyd was criticized on social media by those assuming he was shoving Ross out of frustration, but Boyd told reporters afterwards that he was shoving his assistant coach out of excitement. Still, the penalty certainly hurt Houston.

Here’s a look at the video:

It was a bad start of the game for the Texans, who were given the task of facing the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.

Boyd played at Texas from 2015 to 2019, when he was a seventh round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Draft. Since then, he’s spent four season with the Vikings, a partial season with the Arizona Cardinals, getting released in early October 2023, and is in his second season with the Texans, where he started on the practice squad. Boyd appeared in 51 games and made 33 starts for the Longhorns.

The cornerback returned to the field after the early game incident in the very first play, but it wasn’t a good look for him or the Texans, who went into halftime down 13-6. Boyd was seen back on the field after the successful field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn, which momentarily tied the game.