A Series of Fines Passed Out In the NFL

Monday, November 24th, 2008
by Jack H

I have never seen so many NFL players fined in one weekend of football.  John Henderson, the defensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Cincinnati Bangle guard Andrew Whitworth engaged in a fight during last weeks match up.  Whitworth’s helmet was knocked off by Henderson, which led to the exchange of punches between the two.  Each was charged ten thousand dollars, which I can understand because there should not be fighting like that after the play.  But, what really does not make sense to me is when players are charged large sums of money for hits during the game that the league considers too dangerous and unnecessary.

A fine was passed out after the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants game.  Defensive end Justin Tuck for the Giants was fined seven thousand five hundred dollars for hitting Brooks Bollinger, the quarterback for the Cowboys.  Supposedly the tackle was too hard because Tuck used all of his body weight when he drove Bollinger to the ground.  I understand that it was a penalty, but should he really be fined that much?  Last time I checked, I am pretty sure the game is all about tackling.  I can understand that they are trying to protect the quarterbacks, but no one should be fined that much for a supposedly hard tackle.  I don’t get how the league can determine how tough the tackle was because of the amount of body weight Tuck used.  These are professional players in the NFL and should expect to be tackled since they are making large amounts of money.  Even Rodger Goodell, the NFL commissioner said the fine was too extreme after viewing the replay.  Tuck is supposed to appeal the fine.  He should because he is just out there on the field doing his job for the team.  Give him a penalty for the play, but don’t charge him that much.

Jared Allen from the Minnesota Vikings was also involved in another controversial play after he hit Huston’s quarterback Matt Schaub.  The tackle was considered dangerous because it was a reckless hit below the knees.  The NFL fined him fifty thousand dollars for the hit. Schaub is expected to miss two to four weeks after damaging his collateral ligament.  Allen of course was displeased with fine and wanted to appeal it as soon as he could.  Gary Kubiak, the head coach of the Huston Texans was upset with the hit by Allen and called it a dirty play.  He thought Allen did it intentionally.  But, of course, Allen denied the comments made by Kubiak saying that injuring Schaub was not his intention when he hit him.  Now it’s hard to tell whether or not it was a clean or dirty play.  But, the NFL cannot charge Allen fifty thousand dollars for that hit.  Allen did not intend to injure him because he was just going for the tackle.  Honestly, I think the only reason why Kubiak was angry at the play was because Schaub was injured.  If he was not injured, I really don’t think this play would be looked at this much.

The quarterback is another player on the team and if one is hit in a way that the NFL finds dirty and dangerous, they should not be fining players large amounts of money for these hits.  The offensive line is meant to protect the quarterback, not the NFL.  If the quarterback does not want to be hit, he can just simply go down.  Players around the league are still going to go in hard because that is how they play the game.  Give a penalty if the hit is late and unnecessary, but don’t fine the player thousands of dollars because the NFL cannot determine if the play was dirty or not.

Photo Credit: bbaltimore

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