Harrison Smith says that his ejection from Sunday's contest with the Tennessee Titans for making contact with an official resulted from his stupidity, and he takes complete responsibility for his actions, according to Judd Zulgad of ESPN 1500.
A referee led Smith away from a scuffle with a Tennessee Titans player early in the second quarter, but when the referee moved him backwards, Smith shoved the official to the side. He was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty and ejected from the remainder of the game. After the game, Smith stated that he was indeed in the wrong.
"I just got kind of caught up in the heat of the moment and at the end of the day you can never touch the officials. They have a hard enough job as it is and to make it harder on them is just stupid and is something I don't ever want to do from this point on."
Smith may be subject to further punishment from the NFL. While Smith hopes he can play in next week's game with the Washington Redskins, he stated that he will accept whatever punishment is handed down from the league.
I'm going to take whatever they give me...I just want to play next week and just help the Vikings win."
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Smith out of the University of Notre Dame in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He has played in all five games thus far.