It's been an expensive week for the Steelers. Not only did James Harrison get hit with a $20,000 fine for criticizing the officials after the team's win at Jacksonville, but Hines Ward and Ryan Clark have also been nailed by the NFL.
Ward was fined $5,000 for unneccessary roughness against Baltimore - even though he was never penalized during the game.
Clark got hit for $7,500 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Jacksonville wide receiver Matt Jones.
I guess the team had better make the playoffs so these guys can make up that money.
Just because a player doesn't get flagged doesn't mean a hit wasn't dirty.
ReplyDeleteThe hit on Boldin wasn't flagged either, how much was that fine AND suspension?
Dale, do we know the specific play that Hines was fined for? I know Hines made a reference to it involving Corey Ivy. Today in the Baltimore Sun Ivy said he had no idea what the play was, and said Ward should appeal.
ReplyDeleteIf Ivy doesn't know, then who does? I would assume events like these (ie non-penalized fines) are the result of a team sending in a gametape to the league for them to digest. Is that what happened here?
ReplyDeleteAll I can guess is it was when Ward leveled Reed he kinda celebrated a bit. But what's wrong with that? He didn't stand over him or taunt him in any way. No different than if he caught a pass for a first down. If he can get excited about that (within reason), then why can't a player get excited about making a pancake block? If that's distasteful to the league, then lets just put flags on them and I'll go find something else to watch.
I'm well aware that there are plenty of hits that don't draw penalties, but do draw fines. Usually, they are quite evident - ie. a player going down in a heap and not getting up.
ReplyDeleteAs other posters have stated, usually they happen after the opposing team sends a tape to the league complaining about the hit in question.
That apparently did not happen in Ward's case.