Gridiron: Line judge gets hammered by runaway player

A gridiron official has had a taste of the power generated by the game's stars after being hammered in a crunching tackle gone wrong during a college match in the US.

The line judge was in the right place at the wrong time when Texas A&M defensive back Justin Evans tried to finish off a tackle against Tennessee.

Evans came thundering into the contest with the ball carrier but was beaten to the punch by a teammate, who brought his opponent down and threw him out of play.

But unable to stop himself, the flying Evans jumped over the players and instead took out the line judge with the near perfect tackle – a daisy-cutter of a blow along the waistline.

Slow motion replays of the incident show the official's left leg buckle and the force of the tackle throwing him backwards.

However, the line judge, with the help of his fellow officials, is able to get back to his feet without any major injury.