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By Rich Campbell

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DeAngelo Hall's and Mike Smith's takes on their sideline skirmish (updated)

Nov. 8, 2009 5:22 pm

Here's what Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall (an ex-Falcon) and Atlanta head coach Mike Smith had to say about their physical confrontation on the sideline in the second quarter.

First, Hall:

Q: Was the return to Atlanta more emotional than you expected?
"There was no emotion tied up in anything. I came out here to play ball and try to get a win. Besides that one situation on the sideline, which I felt like they initiated--I can't wait for guys to sit back and watch the replay. I can't wait to watch the replay. I'm going to be giving Commissioner Goodell a call myself because something needs to be done about that."

Q: What did you see?
"It's different when a coach comes over there to break guys up. When a coach comes over there to put his hands on you in a harmful way, something needs to be done about that. And like I said, I'm going to call Commissioner Goodell. Ray Anderson used to be with Atlanta. I know him very well from there. He's the vice president [of football operations] over there in the league office. I'll definitely going to be calling some of my friends to figure out what we can do about the situation."

Q: Just to be clear, you're saying Mike Smith put his hands on you in a harmful way?

"Oh yeah. He put his hands on me in a harmful way, talking about how he's going to kick my [butt] and all this other [stuff], and that ain't how you do things. It's a different story if he's coming in there to break a fight up. Him and [Falcons director of athletic performance] Jeff Fish, the strength and conditioning coach. It's a different thing when you come in and try to break things up, as opposed to coming in and trying to put your hands on somebody. Fish had the nerve to signal to me on the sideline how strong he is (Hall imitates Fish by flexing his biceps and pointing to it). Because he was putting his hands on me, pushing me, you know what I mean? Pushing and grabbing at me and all this other [stuff]. Like I said, something is going to be done about it. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me."

A Redskins public relations staffer cut the interview off here. We didn't get to ask Hall why he was on the sideline in the first place, although I suppose another reporter might have asked before I arrived.

***UPDATED (6 PM)

I was just handed a transcript of Mike Smith's statemtent on the incident:

"Those sidelines are very, very hectic during a game," Smith said. "Our quarterback was hit late and there was a [skirmish] over there. All I was trying to do was restore order to the sideline and did not want to get into a situation where any of our guys were injured. That was my view of it. Again, it happened so very, very quickly?

It was then pointed out to Smith that he appeared to get in the face of an ex-Falcon (meaning Hall).

"There were a bunch of guys on that sideline. Some of them were wearing black helmets and some were wearing maroon helmets. I can't tell you anything more about it. It was very, very hectic on that sideline. There were a lot of things going on and my main goal was for the safety of our football team and restoring order."

So Smith didn't notice anyone in particular? (I'm not sure why the Atlanta reporters were beating around the bush. Ask the freakin question. Geez.)

"I can't tell you who was on that sideline," Smith said. "All I know is I was trying to get order restored over there before halftime."

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Rich Campbell joined The Free Lance-Star as a sports writer in Sept. 2007 and covered the Washington Nationals until Jan. 2008. He is not related to Jason Campbell, but he does cover the Washington Redskins and local high school sports.

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