'08: The Year of the Fine

Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings was fined $50,000 for two low hits on QB Matt Schaub that tore his MCL and knocks himout for 2-4 weeks. Had these hits been on a NFL doll like Peyton or Favre, suspensions may have been in order.clearly cheap shots. He was not blocked into his knees like Bernard Pollard on Tom Brady, he was on the ground and lunged head first at Matt Schaub's knees, which knocks him out for 4 weeks.

Cardinals OG Deuce Lutui was fined $5,000 for grabbing a facemask while attempting a block, and CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was fined $5,000 for slamming WR Torry Holt to the ground well out of bounds.

Bronco's OG Ben Hamilton was fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness when he grabbed the facemask of Vonnie Holiday.

The hit was textbook, nothing illegal about it any way. After reviewing the stupid call on the fine, Goodell rescinded it.

Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley was fined $10,000 for sacking QB Jason Campbell in an "intimidating manner" So lets review Goodell's fine policy: You can't hit a QB in the helmet, definite fine. Hit the QB's knees? Big fine. Hit a QB in the torso? If you're Justin Tuck, you get a fine. Intimidate a QB? Why the hell not, fine 'em! #5 on this highlight reel of sacks from the Washington/Pittsburgh game is the fined sack. Maybe the league should start setting up fines for offensive linemen since they're the ones not protecting the QB...

digging your fingers into the eye sockets of a player and trying to excavate brain matter doesn't result in a suspension like steppin on a centers face. In that situation, I would have gone with the fish hook. I bet thats a cheaper fine. Henderson was also fined for a hands-to-the-motha-fuckin-face infraction.

Patriots TE David Thomas was fined $7,500 for hitting Colts DE Robert Mathis way after the whistle, which of course, he did not hear. To add insult to injury, the penalty knocked them out of field goal range.

Titans DE Jevon Kearse was fined $7,500 for a horse collar tackle last sunday on Aaron Rodgers, he claims that if the player is falling forward, how can it be a horse collar tackle. I agree with him on this one, and I could see his appeal going through and the fine being overturned.

Steelers S Ryan Clark, and ex Washington Redskin, was fined $5,000 for honoring Sean Taylor by having '21' in his eye black. Talk about a public relations nightmare for the NFL, fine someone for honoring their ex-teammate and close friend who died suddenly and tragically. You don't get fined for having tattoo's (yet) I don't see how they can fine you for having a number less than an inch in height on your eye black. Ryan Clark plans to continue to have the number 21 in his eye black.

Ronde Barber of the Buccaneers was fined $7,500 for a horse Collar tackle on Cowboys Martellus Bennett.

Giants WR Dominik Hixon was fined $5,000 for a late hit on a defender after a Kevin Boss reception. Kenny Phillips was not fined for a late hit, that appeared to snap Mewelde Moore's spine.

Buccaneers Lb Cato June, and OL Jeremy Trueblood were fined a combined $12,500 for just being plain rude. What jerks. Jeremy Trueblood was fined for tossing his helmet on the last play, and this is his SEVENTH fine in 3 years. Cato June was fined for putting up fisticuffs against Marc Columbo.

Jared Allen of the Vikings was fined $5,000 for jumping on a pile late against the Chicago Bears. When asked about the fine, he had some choice words. He claimed the "First Ammendment is out the window" He claims that the fines are "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" Yeah Jared, .00001% of your astronomical salary is cruel, and unusual. Thats like me getting fined $.03 for my latest underage drinking charge.



Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans was fined $10,000 for his TD celebration where he played some Bongo drums that were placed near the endzone. The price is a bit excessive I'd say, but hey Goodell wants this to be a No Fun League. The NFL claims that celebrations need to be spontaneous, I think this is as spontaneous as it gets. Chris is appealing the fine, bringing up that Chad Ocho Cinco was fined only $7,500 for him using a prop as a celebration against the Titans last year.

Giants WR Plaxico Burress was fined $45,000 by the league. $20,000 for post game comments about the officiating during the game, $20,000 for verbally abusing the head linesman during the game, and $5,000 for chucking the ball in the stands.


Brian Urlacher, Dre Bly, and Joey Porter each handed over $20,000 for comments critical to the refs. They have feelings too guys, come on.

Rams G Richie Incognito was fined $35,000 for mulitple offenses. $25,000 for verbal abuse of the officials, $5,000 for a chop block, and $5,000 for a major facemask. Had Richie been more incognito about it all, he likely would have gotten away.

Ronnie Brown, Vernon Carey and Ikechuku Ndukwe were all fined $10,000 for dancing in the endzone. Fast Forward to 5:20 for the video. Where I'm from you can dance if you want to, you can leave your friends behind.

Derrick Mason, and Cortland Finnegan were fined $5,000 a piece for unnecessary roughness for their shoving matches during the Titans/Ravens game.

Steelers LB James Harrison was fined $20,000 for comments about the officiating. Heres what he said:


"It was the most unbelievable penalty I've ever seen in my life, If they're going to go and send me a letter saying they're going to fine me for unnecessary-whatever he called, I believe that is not a penalty. And when it comes down to it these refs should start getting fined for making bad calls."

Well, someone had to say it.

Jets S Eric Smith was fined $50,000 and suspended a game for his face breaking hit on Q Boldin. A bit hefty due to Boldin being shoved into the collision, wasn't a vicious act by Smith, just bad luck.

Saints coach Sean Payton, and 'Boys owner Jerry Jones were fined $15,000 and $25,000 respectivly for speaking badly on the officiating crews in post game press conferences.

Link Drop, Week 9

The Jaguars new way of making the team focus on the upcoming games better? No loud music, no laughter, no Mike Peterson.

Carlos Rogers, speaking so eloquently about the election: "Hey, like a lot of people said, one president gonna stick it up your butt, the other one's gonna stick it further in the butt, so it don't matter, man. Whatever happens, happens. That's something we can't control." But IT IS something you can control, its called voting.

The Seahawks, showing the incompetance of a 2-6 team, couldn't get 10 players on the field TWICE during punt coverage against the Eagles.

Oh, and the excellent playcalling when driving under a minute, run a draw, spike the ball to stop the clock, and... Punt?

From the Good Guys in the NFL vault: Tim Hightower gives Edgerrin James the game ball, despite taking all the carries -- and the starting job -- from him. The reasoning? Edge took Hightower in from day one, and "Has done so much for me" Maybe this one should have been in the "Yeah, he is going to cherish that" vault.

Despite a late out of bounds hit (resulting in a 15 yard unnecessary roughness call), Torry Holt had some encouraging words for rookie CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, "Rook, keep working, everything will come together"

Congratulations Brett Favre? First NFL QB to 300 interceptions.

Are the Detroit Lions embarrassed because they have to resort to signing Daunte Culpepper? Or does the embarrassment stem from, you know, being 0-8.

Did Tommy Kelly sit during the national anthem? He may have been exhausted from warm ups, or maybe his wallet was holding him down...

From Practice Squad, to NFL Starters

The Practice Squad is an 8 man scout team that is a seperate roster than the 53 man team. To be signed to the practice squad, you must A. be a free agent, and B. have less that 1 accrued season of NFL work (One season on a 53 man roster, one season on IR, etc.) When you are on the practice squad you can not be on the squad for longer than three years. The minimum payment for a PS member is $5,200 until 2010. Out side of that, a the league may allow teams to carry one more player, usually that of an overseas player (The Packers carried Carl Johan-Bjork from Sweden on their PS for the 2007 season) Usually the players on the PS are overlooked, seen as players that have little to no shot in the NFL, but sometimes there are players that go fromthe Practice Squad, to NFL stardom.

The life of a player on an NFL practice squad surely isn't something glamorous, you sit there watching players like Vernon Davis set the mark for richest TE in NFL history without taking a snap, and you get paid little to nothing comparitively, even compared to the Undrafted Free Agents that made the squad you make a miniscule amount. It all depends on how you percieve the fact that you are on the practice squad, for some it may be harder than others, say players that were of the 255 drafted and then deemed not worthy enough of the 53 man roster, that could be disheartening, but some players see it as a blessing in disguise. An NFL agent who tries to keep players hopes up on the practice squad said it best when he said "Their worst day on a practice squad is better than their best day at Wal-Mart"


Here is a list of players that have gone from practice squads to NFL starters in their careers. (Starters on rosters this year, whether by earning it, or getting it because of injury. [K's, P's, LS's not included])

Corey McIntyre – FB – Buffalo Bills: UDFA out of WVU
Jason Peters – LT – Buffalo Bills: UDFA out of Arkansas

Atari Bigby – SS – Green Bay Packers: UDFA out of Central Florida
Tramon Williams – CB – Green Bay Packers: UDFA out of Louisiana Tech
John Kuhn – FB – Green Bay Packers: UDFA out of Shippensburg
Al Harris – CB – Green Bay Packers: 6th Round pick out of Texas A&M Kingsville
Scott Wells – C – Green Bay Packers: 7th Round pick out of Tennessee
Ryan Grant – RB – Green Bay Packers: UDFA out of Notre Dame

Anthony Herrera – OG – Minnesota Vikings: UDFA out of Tennessee
Naufahu tahi – FB – Minnesota Vikings: UDFA out of Brigham Young

Chuck Darby – NT – Detroit Lions: UDFA out of South Carolina State
Paris Lenon – LB – Detroit Lions: UDFA out of Richmond
Jon Kitna – QB – Detroit Lions: UDFA out of Central Washington

Hunter Hillenmeyer – LB – Chicago Bears: 5th round pick out of Vanderbilt
Jason McKie – FB – Chicago Bears: UDFA out of Temple

Greg Camarillo – WR – Miami Dolphins: UDFA out of Stanford
Yeremiah Bell – S – Miami Dolphins: 6th round pick out of Eastern Kentucky
Casey Cramer – FB – Miami Dolphins: 7th round pick out of Darmouth

Shaun Smith – DL – Cleveland Browns: UDFA out of South Carolina

Billy Yates – G – New England Patriots: UDFA out of Texas A&M

Brandon Moore – G – New York Jets: UDFA out of Illinois
Tony Richardson – FB – New York Jets: UDFA out of Auburn

Carey Davis – FB – Pittsburgh Steelers: UDFA out of Illinois
James Harrison – LB – Pittsburgh Steelers: UDFA out of Kent State
Ryan Clark – S – Pittsburgh Steelers: UDFA out of LSU

Kevin Walter – WR – Houston Texans: 7th round pick out of Eastern Michigan
Vonta Leach – FB – Houston Texans: UDFA out of East Carolina
Mike Brisiel – G – Houston Texans : UDFA out of Colorado State
Chris Myers – C – Houston Texans: 6th round pick out of Miami
Demarcus Faggins – CB – Houston Texans: 6th round pick out of Kansas State

Daniel Federkeil – OT – Indianapolis Colts: UDFA out of Calgary
Gijon Robinson – FB/TE – Indianapolis Colts: UDFA out of Missouri Western State

Paul Spicer – DE – Jacksonville Jaguars: UDFA out of Saginaw Valley State

Tony Brown – DT – Tennessee Titans: UDFA out of Memphis

Casey Weigmann – C – Denver Broncos: UDFA out of Iowa
Andre Hall – RB – Denver Broncos: UDFA out of South Florida

Damon Huard – QB – Kansas City Chiefs: UDFA out of Washington

Cornell Green – OL – Oakland Raiders: UDFA out of Central Florida
Luke Lawton – FB – Oakland Raiders: UDFA out of McNeese State
Ricky Brown – LB – Oakland Raiders: UDFA out of Boston College
Hiram Eugene – FS – Oakland Raiders: UDFA out of Louisiana Tech

Jeromey Clary – OT – San Diego Chargers: 6th round pick out of Kansas State
Kris Dielman – OG – San Diego Chargers: UDFA out of Indiana
Jyles Tucker – OLB – San Diego Chargers: UDFA out of Wake Forest
Clinton Hart – S – San Diego Chargers: UDFA out of Central Florida C.C.

Patrick Crayton – WR – Dallas Cowboys: 7th round pick out of NW Oklahoma State

Derrick Ward – RB – New York Giants: 7th round pick out of Ottawa

Jamaal Jackson – C – Philadelphia Eagles: UDFA out of Delaware State

Brent Grimes – CB – Atlanta Falcons: UDFA out of Shippensburg
Harvey Dahl – OL – Atlanta Falcons: UDFA out of Reno-Nevada
Tyson Clabo - OL – Atlanta Falcons: UDFA out of wake Forest

Jake Delhomme – QB – Carolina Panthers: UDFA out of Louisiana-Lafayette

Kevin Kaesviharn – S – New Orleans Saints: UDFA out of Augustana

Donald Penn – OT – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: UDFA out of Utah State
Earnest Graham – RB – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: UDFA out of Florida
Jovan Haye – DT – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6th round pick out of Vanderbilt

Antonio Smith – DE – Arizona Cardinals: 5th round pick out of Oklahoma State

Dan Kreider – FB – St. Louis Rams: UDFA out of New Hampshire
Chris Draft – LB – St. Louis Rams: 6th round pick out of Stanford
Fakhir Brown – CB – St. Louis Rams: UDFA out of Grambling

Tony Wragge – G – San Francisco 49er’s: UDFA out of New Mexico State

Brian Russell – S – Seattle Seahawks: UDFA out of San Diego State


So who's the next great practice squader?