It’s Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Us Into Commissioner Goodell
Nov 8, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has lost his damn fool mind! Either that or he’s in an extremely “giving” mood this holiday season as he’s been handing out fines as if they’re Christmas cards. But what’s worse is how he’s handing out random fines without any rhyme or reason.
It’s been a while since I penned a LOWER THE BOOM post, but this got me fired up enough to drop the old boom on the commish.
Week 12 saw some interesting plays across the league and in the Bears – Vikings game in particular. The adjudication of fines following last week’s game left me scratching my head. Let’s review some of the plays and fines, starting with Ndamukong Suh’s second annual Turkey Play of the season.
Suh was not suspended for that play despite his track record of dirty play including his Thanksgiving stomp last season. Suh’s fine for the kick to Matt Schaub’s ding ding? $30k.
In the Bears game, Jared Allen ended Bears guard Lance Louis’ season with a cheap shot block. Visit the Bears website here to see this cheapshot. Allen’s fine for ending a guy’s season? $21k.
While we’re looking at the fines handed out, Brian Urlacher had a very mild horse collar tackle, where he barely got his hand inside the jersey to bring Peterson down. Peterson didn’t miss a play following the Urlacher hit. Yet Urlacher drew a $15k fine for that tackle.
But that’s not the most absurd of all the fines handed out this week. No, the most ridiculous fine had to go to Jay Cutler for the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he drew for tossing the ball to the Vikings defender after a scramble. Check out this gif of the play:
How do any of these fines make any sense? What is the purpose of fines? Is Koko the trained monkey working in the NFL front office and passing out these fines? How does a season ended illegal hit come in the same ballpark as a horse collar tackle or flipping a ball at an opponent? How does a serial scumbag like Suh not get a suspension and get a fine only slightly higher than these other fines?
Let’s keep in mind that in the cases of Urlacher and Cutler, the Bears were penalized on the field as those plays drew flags. Wasn’t that punishment enough? On Jay’s ball toss, it’s very likely the penalty cost the Bears a chance at a touchdown.
The league needs to bring some rationale to these fines or they’re going to lose the respect of their players and they’re going to lose their fans. The only good news is that NFL charities are the beneficiaries of these fines, so at least someone benefits from this nonsense.