Za’Darius Smith, a former pass rusher for the Green Bay Packers, had a little less change in his pocket after last week’s victory over the Detroit Lions. Smith was fined over $7,000 by the NFL on Sunday for hitting Packers quarterback Jordan Love in the head, a play that the game’s officials had flagged. Smith would undoubtedly be the first to admit that, on any given day of the week, he would trade in $7,000 for an uncalled 15-yard automatic first down. Here is a link to the play:
Christian Mahogany, a guard with the Lions, received a $4,609 punishment for wearing a facemask during the same match. On the play where he pulled on the facemask of Packers linebacker Quay Walker, he was the right guard.
Rather of calling games correctly the first time, the NFL is now after players’ wallets, which I personally detest. Smith’s fine today accomplishes nothing for the Packers and simply serves to penalise individuals, not teams.
Prior to 2023, 238 league-wide fines in a single season set the previous record. However, fine numbers have skyrocketed since 2023. With six weeks remaining in the regular season, the NFL has already tallied 283 fines for the 2024 season alone as of Week 11. Another contentious issue is the subjective character of these sanctions. Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, was fined $14,069 last month for making what the NFL deemed to be a “violent gesture”—basically, pointing in a manner that resembled finger guns. That is more than twice the penalty Smith was given for an uncalled personal foul.
The Professional Athletes Foundation receives these on-field fines, which the league uses as a shady means of financing its youth football initiatives. Since defensive players receive the majority of fines, they are the ones that bear the most of the financial burden.