The NFL continued their new found “zero tolerance” stance on unnecessary roughness on Saturday as 12 additional players were fined for their week 6 actions. In an unprecedented move, the list even included a quarterback… Kevin Kolb of the Philadelphia Eagles. Earlier in the week, three players, Pittsburgh’s James Harrison ($75,000), New England’s Brandon Meriweather ($50,000) and Atlanta’s Dunta Robinson ($50,000), were fined a combined $175,000 for flagrant hits they delivered in their previous game. After further review, the NFL added twelve more names to the list of “violent offenders”.
The latest criminals are:
New Orleans Saints cornerback Malcolm Jenkins: fined $10,000 for two hits, one to the head area and another out of bounds; Tennessee Titans defensive end William Hayes: fined $10,000 for a late hit; Tennessee Titans defensive end Dave Ball: fined $5,000 for roughing the passer with a hit to the head or neck area; Houston Texans guard Wade Smith: fined $5,000 for a leg whip; Houston Texans defensive end Adewale Ogunleye: fined $5,000 for a late hit on a QB; Houston Texans safety Bernard Pollard for hitting a Chiefs player out of bounds; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb: fined $5,000 for a horse-collar tackle; San Francisco safety Dashon Goldson: fined $5,000 for a late hit; Minnesota receiver Bernard Berrian: fined $5,000 for a late hit; Detroit guard Stephen Peterman: fined $7,500 for a late hit; San Diego linebacker Antwan Barnes: fined $5,000 for unnecessarily striking St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford in the chest and neck.
I’m sure the inclusion of Kolb and Berrian on the list were to stop defensive players from crying about being picked on. Has a QB ever been fined for unnecessary roughness before?
After the initial three fines were handed out, it was received, almost unanimously, in a negative fashion by national and local sports journalists and commentators. Some of the biggest detractors of the new system were obviously former players turned media, who felt the game has been tampered with to an obnoxious extent these past few seasons. I’m sure the fact that these guys had their clocks cleaned throughout their careers adds to their opposing view point.
James Harrison was considering retirement after he was fined earlier in the week, claiming he could not play his game any other way. Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns, who Harrison was fined for knocking out, came out in support of his friend and apparently convinced him not to retire.
We shall see what happens now in week 7 with the threat of suspensions now looming over layers’ heads. I think this is going to do more damage than good since the wost thing you can do to a defensive player is make them think twice about laying the wood on someone. I think we are going to see quite a few defensive players get seriously injured tomorrow.
Let’s see how this all plays out.
