The NFL was rocked late into the night after Week 14 when the league office issued an emergency statement: Chicago Bears right tackle Darnell Wright has been suspended for a controversial clash with pass rusher
Micah Parsons in the 21–28 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The shocking twist? This is the same “chokehold” play that on-field officials completely ignored, igniting outrage from Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and fans ever since the final whistle.
Apparently an arm around the neck is not holding. pic.twitter.com/1duX5gjCXS— Juan D (@therealRonnieK) December 8, 2025
On the field, it was just another missed flag. Online, it became a storm. And now, the NFL has been forced to act.
According to the league’s disciplinary release, the NFL’s conduct committee determined that on the Bears’ final offensive drive, as Caleb Williams tried to lead a potential game-tying march, Darnell Wright committed an infraction by “
using his hands and arms to the neck and head area of an opponent in a dangerous manner inconsistent with league rules and player safety standards.”
Multiple slow-motion angles show Wright’s arm
wrapped around the back of Parsons’ neck, pulling him off his rush path right in front of the sideline official—yet no flag was thrown.
In real time, play continued. Caleb got extra time to launch a pass toward the end zone before
Keisean Nixon intercepted it to seal the game for Green Bay. On the scoreboard, it went down as an interception on a desperation throw. But on phone screens across the country, it became Exhibit A as fans shouted:
“If this isn’t holding, then what sport are we playing?”
Right after the game, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur stepped directly into the spotlight with a cutting remark in his postgame press conference:
“Honestly, I don’t know what holding is anymore… If a pass rusher gets an arm wrapped around his neck, gets pulled completely off his path and there’s still no flag, then maybe we’re talking about a different version of football.”
Packers fans turned that quote into an instant meme, plastering it over the image of Parsons locked up by Wright and pushing it across X (Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. Within hours, hashtags like
#ProtectParsons, #DarnellWright, and #NFLRefs were trending, dragging in former players, ex-referees, and analysts to dissect the moment.
The pressure grew so intense that, according to multiple internal reports, the NFL initiated an
emergency overnight review of the officiating crew assigned to the Bears–Packers game, and requested all available footage of the battles between Darnell Wright and Micah Parsons. At first, many assumed it was just procedural damage control. No one expected it to result in an
official suspension.
In the decision announced the following morning, the NFL stated that:
- Darnell Wright was found to have “employed improper technique by directing his hands toward the neck and head of an opponent, creating a serious risk of injury.”
- The play will be logged as a “major breakdown in the enforcement of player safety rules” and will be used as training material for officiating crews league-wide.
- Wright is suspended for at leastone game, along with a maximum financial penalty under the league’s unsafe conduct framework.
While the NFL stopped short of publicly condemning the officiating crew, the fact that they suspended Wright for a play that the referees
allowed to continue says enough: the league is quietly acknowledging a serious failure in protecting a premier pass rusher.
Inside the Bears’ locker room, the mood turned heavy. Wright was reportedly stunned by the suspension:
“I was just trying to do my job and protect my quarterback,” he told reporters after news of the discipline leaked. “On the field, the refs didn’t call anything. I didn’t feel like I was trying to be dirty or injure anyone. If they think I crossed the line, then I’ll have to study the tape, clean up my technique, and stay within the rules.”
But to Packers fans—and many neutral observers—the image of Wright’s arm cinched up around Parsons’ neck went far beyond “playing tough”:
“That’s not just blocking anymore, that’s bordering on a choke,” one former defensive end said on a TV panel. “You can argue about borderline holding all day, but once the hand gets up around the neck, we’re outside the safe zone.”
As for Parsons, he reacted in a way that fit the story of his career—someone who’s spent years battling through holds, grabs, and “locks” that don’t get flagged:
“My whole career has been fighting through stuff like that,” Parsons said. “I don’t want to see anybody lose money or lose games. I don’t want to end anyone’s career. But if this pushes the league to take protecting defensive players seriously, especially pass rushers, then maybe it’s something that had to happen.”
The decision to suspend Darnell Wright immediately split public opinion:
- One side believes the NFL got it right: if the rulebook is clear and the video shows a hand across the neck, then discipline is the only way to send a real message on safety.
- The other side argues the league is “governed by social media,” letting outrage and viral clips dictate punishment when the officials closest to the play didn’t see a foul.
No matter which side you’re on, one reality is hard to ignore: in less than 24 hours, what looked like “just another missed call” turned into a flashpoint moment.
- Matt LaFleur went viral for his bitter line about not knowing what holding is anymore,
- Micah Parsons once again highlighted how often he gets grabbed around the neck,
- and now Darnell Wright has become the poster child for the razor-thin line between “physical football” and “dangerous play” in today’s NFL.
From now until the end of the season, every time an offensive tackle lets his hand creep up toward the neck or helmet of a pass rusher, people are going to remember that clip from Packers–Bears and the suspension of Darnell Wright.
And maybe that’s exactly what the NFL wants: everyone thinking twice before letting their hands go too far.
