Fans can cut the tension in the air with a knife when the LA Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders play each other. These two teams and the two fanbases really despise each other and it often makes for a great football game.
There are added storylines that add to the tension. Former All-Pro Khalil Mack always seems to show out against his former team, while former draft bust Jerry Tillery looks to do the same against the Bolts.
Tillery is one of the most despised former Chargers in the league because of how his tenure with the team shook out. If Tillery didn't have the entire fanbase hating him already then he secured that reality on Sunday, delivering a disgustingly-dirty late hit on Justin Herbert and caused the Chargers' bench to explode into a skirmish.
herbert breakin' ankles
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 1, 2023
📺: @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/AJna2S4ALB
A flag was instantly thrown for the blatant late hit. The referees met after the skirmish was quelled and announced that Tillery was ejected for the rest of the game.
Jerry Tillery cements his status as a Chargers enemy with dirty hit on Justin Herbert
Anyone who has followed the Chargers in recent years knows that Tillery's tenure with the team did not come to a peaceful ending. The Chargers very openly shopped him on the trade market before the deadline in 2022. Once the team got confirmation that no other team wanted to trade for Tillery he was cut.
Did Tillery come into this game wanting to deliver a late hit to Justin Herbert? We hope not. But it is clear that he came into this game with extra juice and motivation. Heck, the best game of Tillery's entire career was his first game against the Chargers last season. That extra juice led to Tillery seeing blood when Herbert scrambled to the sideline.
Either way, there is no excuse for this kind of hit and the fact that Tillery was the one to do it makes it even worse. The former first-round pick certainly earned the hefty fine that is coming his way from the league office. It will be interesting to see how his former teammates respond to playing Tillery again later in the season.