Attention NFL Defenders and Tom Brady: It Costs a Mere 15K to Concuss a QB

In last week's game in San Diego, Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence crushed Texans quarterback Matt Schaub during an interception return.

Today the NFL levied a $15,000 fine against Florence, and he was not suspended. Texans GM, Rick Smith thought that the fine was too small:

"We are disappointed in the sense that we have lost out starting quarterback for at least one game after the player took the crown of his helmet and delivered an illegal blow to Matt's jaw, and the fine levied is only a small fraction of the player's weekly pay. Is that equitable? The punishment doesn't appear to fit the crime when all factors are considered."

Florence claims he doesn't even remember the play, and that he has to look it up on film. Chargers coach, Norv Turner says he doesn't believe it was intentional.

Patriots tackle Vince Wilfolk received a $12,500 fine for hitting Bills quarterback JP Losman's knees. He claimed it was not intentional, but it sure looked a little suspicious. Losman believed that fine was too low.

So, for all the defenders who might be tempted to take out Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for running up the score, apparently Roger Goodell believes that a hit to the knees is worth $12,500 and a helmet to helmet hit on a quarterback during a change of possession is worth $15,000. Just say afterwards that you didn't mean it.

As points of comparison for this year:

Wearing a non-authorized sponsor hat at the Super Bowl cost Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher $100,000.

A horse collar tackle cost Cowboy safety Roy Williams $10,000 last year, and this year cost him $12,500.

Throwing the ball in anger at an opponent after he was hit cost Titans quarterback Vince Young $7500.

Flipping the bird to fans cost Niners kicker Joe Nedney $7500.

Using a goal post in a TD celebration costs Jaguar running back Maurice Jones-Drew $7500.

Using a goal post in a TD celebration to make fun of Belicheat cost Cowboy wide receiver Terrell Owens $7500.

Following a teammate into a crowd after a touchdown cost Ravens wide receiver Devard Darling $7500.

Going after a couple of players knees after a play is dead cost Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel $5000.

Throwing Maurice Jones-Drew to the ground cost Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth $5000.

Grabbing KC quarterback Damon Huard by the facemask cost Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris $5000.

Regular season NFL uniform violations range from $5000 to $25,000.

Previously at FanHouse:
Tom Brady Not Worried About Cheap Shots
Someone Could Go Gillooly on Tom Brady
Bill Cowher on Patriots: 'If This Continues Someone's Going to Take a Cheap Shot'
What Happens if Tom Brady Goes Down
Maybe Tom Brady Should Watch His Back
Mike WIlbon: 'I'd Hit Tom Brady With Everything I Had as Late as I Could'

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

11-01-2007 @ 10:47PM

A.C said...

Well now I understand why our kids are growing up and resorting to violence when things don't go their way. I find this type of reporting downright frightening. What's wrong with you people? Do you hear yourselves? Act like adults. IT'S A GAME. If your team can't stop the Pats, play better football. I can't believe you are condoning or even suggesting that one team purposefully injure another. What a great lesson to teach the kids. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

11-01-2007 @ 10:55PM

Al H said...

Yeah that was a horrible hit, I don't think they ever even think about the fines in relation to each other.

I guess the coach can cover for any cheapshot leveled at Tom Brady now.

11-01-2007 @ 11:20PM

victor58 said...

I can see Bill, Joe Wallace, Tiffany and Sean all sitting in one of their shabby little living rooms, wringing their hands, worrying about when Brady is going down for the count, and when I do, I LAUGH MY ASS OFF! Coach(es) should put a $50K bounty on his head, so the player who does the deed will have his fine covered. LOL!

11-01-2007 @ 11:28PM

Justin said...

Hey NFL players, if you're tired of the Patriots running up the score, go for Brady knees. It'll cost you only $15,000.

11-01-2007 @ 11:35PM

Stephanie Stradley said...

AC-

Please read my words carefully. I am not in anyway advocating taking out any player. In fact, the point of what I am saying is that the NFL seems to take fashion violations and TD over-celebrations more seriously than intentional cheap shots to quarterbacks.

The shot to Schaub was absolutely a slobknockering. If you can do that to a quarterback and only get fined $15K, then very few things are off-limits as far as cheap shots. That's what I am saying.

That I brought it up in the context of Tom Brady is because that topic is in the news.

Thanks all for reading and commenting.
-Steph

11-02-2007 @ 12:45AM

George B Vieto said...

Patriots opponents if you are angry that the Patriots run up the score do yourself a favor and remember "Don't get mad, get even."

11-02-2007 @ 2:06AM

jason said...

Great one Victor and Stephanie! - Especailly Steph for doing her homework and reporting this!

I think this fine evaluation is all out of wack! You would fine Urlacher for wearing a piece of cloth more than you would Wilfork for obviously hitting JP late in the knee!?!?!?!?!?!?........ Yeah, this is crazy! If Brady does go down it should only cost 12,500..... though the league is so NE loving that i would see the player to do so on Brady being suspended for a year in the NFL, even if it was unintentional!

How about Vrabel?!?!?!?...... i mean COME ON!!!!! Next you will see NE putting 14 men on the field and only having a penalty of 2 yards inforced!.... That or the officals not seeing it,..... of course it would be in NE.

11-02-2007 @ 4:22AM

donkeykong said...

The NFL can't make small infractions equal to small fines (in the hundreds) because then that's too small to be a deterrent for people making big money.

15-yard penalties for both late hits and excessive TD celebrations: are the two equally heinous? The reason is simple: it's not about which is more heinous - it's about deterrent.

The NFL doesn't want people making late hits, or partaking in excessive debauchery in the endzone, or wearing non-approved clothing, so they levy fines in the thousands and penalize them in the 15's: any attempt to say that one violation is worse than another by fining a little bit more for the more severe violation is entirely symbolic.

11-02-2007 @ 8:34AM

joe wallace said...

Victor, I have nothing to say to you, until you analyze football-your words speak for themselves. But thanks for asking for me. :)

11-02-2007 @ 8:32AM

here I sit, in my shabby-chic living room, hands wrought, pondering what life would be like without brady...Hmmmmm...can't imagine it....wondering what packers life would be without Farvre? Or Colts life would be without Manning? But that's different, because, well, they are not BRADY....

Stephanie, do you write the headlines? Too many bloggers have headlines that LOOK like they advocate, and, in fact, encourage criminal tactics, then in the article, they back away from the statement. I understand the gist of your argument, but if you look at what such a headline, and a little bit of sarcasm creates, is it worth it? People like Victor are wringing their hands with joy over the idea of Brady going down, though they claim to be classy fans. They then make fun of people who tell them, over and over again, that this kind of rooting for players to get injured goes beyond the pale. But, hey, as long as you get readers responding, right?...

11-02-2007 @ 8:48AM

Bob said...

What kind of sick society are we living in when lowlife sports columnists perpetuate and condone injury to an athelete? Is this how teams in the future are going to defeat their opponents? By maiming the opponents ability?

11-02-2007 @ 8:42AM

E said...

Stephanie GO AWAY!

11-02-2007 @ 8:45AM

RITA ANGUS said...

THIS IS ALL SO STUPID.....TO ALL YOU POOR SPORTS WHO WHINE ABOUT THE PATRIOTS....IF YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO STOP THEM, STAY HOME AND WATCH ON TV!

11-02-2007 @ 9:36AM

Bob et al-

I am not advocating injuring athletes. If you read what I wrote, I am suggesting that the NFL cares more about logo hats and the color of player's chin straps than the health of the players in the league.

There have been tons of stories in the media suggesting that someone might take out Brady because of the way that the Patriot's have been scoring. I am merely pointing out that for a helmet to helmet hit on a play where the QB is not suppose to be fair game, a player only got fined 15K. And for taking out a QB's knees, it cost only 12.5 K.

Joe-

Yes, I wrote the headline. I did not write it to advocate taking out Tom Brady. I was merely connecting the dots between a 15K fine for a horrible QB crushing and all the news that suggests that maybe Brady is a target.

It is just a fact and not advocating anything. Attention everyone who cares about the NFL at all. Concussing a QB in a really obvious intentional way will cost you 15K. I'm not being sarcastic. I'm being brutally truthful. That's the message that was sent out by the NFL front office yesterday.

Thanks all for reading and commenting,
Steph

11-02-2007 @ 11:24AM

Thank you Stephanie for responding, but the atmosphere recently has been - Since we can't beat 'em lets threaten them with taking out a star player. I am tired of hearing from slow, washed up LB's who allow other LB's to catch TDs on them saying the Pats are classless. As a fan the only classless thing I saw was the Deadskins D. The only classless statements I have heard or read have been from Bloggers who couldn't play flag football in 5th grade and from old retired coaches who have outlived their influence on the game.

11-02-2007 @ 1:22PM

twayne_05 said...

You can tell who is a Pats fan and who is not be the responses to your Article Steph. From eliquiently put "Go Away" in all caps as it makes it more well spoken. Caps really do show that you can comment on an articile with intellict and great dialog. Or saying the headline condones illegal hits. Actually it says what the fine would be, not to do it. (Reading and understand what is written is two different thing).

First rule in writing or reporting is the headline must be an attention grabber. (That is exactly what has happened)

Now if you actually read (not just the words but the meaning)the piece that Ms Stephanie Stadley wrote then you would realize she is saying that fines of this magnitude are not a deterrent for such hits. $15k is nothing to these guys so the fine should be harsher so that they would not take these cheap shots. If Florance was suspended a game, do you think his coach would be saying I did not see, even on Wednesday, when you know damn well they have already reviewed the tape. I would bet the coach saw that piece of footage on Sunday evening if not monday morning at the latest. Coach Turner would be upset at his player for taking the shot because now he would be out a game and costing the team not just a missley bit of pocket change or new rims for his kids tricycle.

Oh just because she used To Bady's name in the headline is only because he is the hottest QB in the league right now, she could have used Manning or Favre because all three are pretty much the entire team, they go down and the season is over for these three teams. Which is the point of the article. Make it so that if a cheap shot comes it is not just a little slap on the wristand a finger wavng, with a No-No badboy scolding.

Great work as usual Steph.

11-02-2007 @ 2:53PM

ers said...

I don't think boston fans know how to read very well. They know how to piss and moan just fine(as well as mind read by the way they insinuate that every reporter is saying they should injure Brady), but when it comes to reading actual words on a computer screen it has proven to be a bit much for the good ol' beantowners. Sad to see a such a great sports town have a town that contributes so much to the illiteracy of America..

11-02-2007 @ 3:33PM

Folks, I am not being oversensitive. In fact, I just said that I understand what Steph is saying, but there is an atmosphere, some bloggers, and some people who are regulars, who do, indeed, call for that stuff. Your article deos not say this, but the headline hints it, presumably to get people to read it.

I just wish we could get over the namecalling and dragging the conversation down to meaningless rants. I got into the blogs to hear what others thought about the game, and engage in analysis, and I feel I have been dragged into a morass of infantile ranting. And it's my own fault, I admit. I just wish we could have a civil conversation about two great teams, and realize that this is just a damn game. Enjoy it now, both sides, because it's always fleeting. read "Ozymandias" by the poet Shelley. It's all fleeting. Enjoy it now, while you can.

11-02-2007 @ 6:24PM

jsharpe0047 said...

Hey Stephanie I can't stop you from blogging this crap, SHOULD I COME TO YOUR HOME AND GIVE YOU A HIT TO THE HEAD?????

11-02-2007 @ 8:36PM

jsharpe0047-

Hmmm, given your use of all caps and the word crap and your threats of bodily harm, I am guessing you completely missed the point of what I was writing.

Apparently, it is the NFL's policy to only fine a defender 15K and NOT suspend him if he concusses a player with a cheap shot. I am not advocating cheapshotting anyone, instead I merely stating a fact of the 2007 NFL: If you cheapshot a QB in the head, it will cost you a mere 15K. That was the message that came out of yesterday's decision.

I am discussing this in the context of Brady because taking out Brady has been big news. And it should concern all Patriots fans that the NFL doesn't even suspend a player when he headhunts a QB or takes out a QB's knees. Actually, it should be a concern to all NFL fans because hurt QBs = unwatchable football.

Joe-

I appreciate what you are saying. I think the blogosphere has the potential to provide in-depth information and commentary that isn't provided in the mainstream media. It also has the potential to be silly and provocative and meanspirited.

If you follow my writing here, I really do try to bring a different angle to stories or discussing things that aren't being discussed. When I poke fun at things, I try not to be ugly or personal about it. Like a lot of bloggers, I write because I love sport, especially the NFL, and want to share information about it that people might not know about.

To me, it is fascinating that a player can be fined more for wearing the wrong logo on a hat than they can be for endangering another player's career and health with an irresponsible, illegal shot.

Thanks all for reading and commenting,
Steph