The funny thing is, most of the fans on the Broncos' official message board said it wasn't a late hit and wasn't a dirty play. I've seen more gripes about it from anti-Cowboys fans than from Broncos fans. The few Broncos fans who griped about it were shouted down on their own board.
Just a few of the comments from Broncos fans --
"It was not a cheap shot."
"so...you expect roy williams to not play to his abilities just because it's the probowl? ...it wasn't cheap."
"He played Rod on that play, not the ball. His job is to knock the ball free providing over the top help. You can't ask him to pull up because this is the Pro Bowl. That's how injuries occur. I still didn't like the hit though!"
"rod was still in the air....it was not a cheap shot...stop whining"
"I dont think it was cheap, Williams couldnt see that rod didnt catch it, thats why he hit him so hard, he was trying to knock the ball out, he thought rod caught it and with the game on the line he unloaded, thats exactly what your supposed to do."
"You got that right... I bleed orange and blue and while I am worried about Smith from the hit as a fan. As a former headhunter, that hit was legal, clean and how you play the game. Even if he saw a flicker of the ball possibly bounce away from Smith, he could not stop his momentum, the hit was there, that is football."
"its not dirty playing, it was a clean hit. williams just plays hard like everyplayer should"