The man who punched Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert says it wasn't a cheap shot -- insisting he was protecting a friend who was in Dallas' grasp ... and he says he suffered serious injuries as a result.
TMZ Sports spoke with Kyle Hadala, who tells us he feels the viral video does NOT tell the full story of what transpired before that fateful punch was thrown on June 19 at Zoo Bar in South Dakota.
Hadala insists Goedert and his friends had been "harassing" them at a previous bar over the choice of music they were playing on the jukebox.