3x DPOY annoyed at NFL slapping Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco with $45,020 fine
Another week in the NFL, another week of hefty fines. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 19-17 on Dec. 8. During the game, RB Isiah Pacheco ran with the ball after catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes. A Chargers defender tried to stop him, but Pacheco lowered his shoulder and hit the defender with his helmet. Pacheco himself was soon forced out of bounds by another Chargers defender.
Many Chargers fans thought that a flag would be thrown at the play, but it did not come. However, on Saturday Isiah Pacheco received a notice which said that he had to shell out $45,020 for "unnecessary roughness", even though no such penalty was called during the actual game.
3x Defensive Player of the Year and former Houston Texans player, JJ Watt, took to X (formerly, Twitter) to react to the news on Saturday. He took a dig at the NFL and said that the league paid its players to play football, but when they did, it took money out of their hands for doing exactly what they had been asked to do.
Pacheco was not the only Chiefs player slapped with fines by the league for player safety or other violations. Trey Smith incurred a $18,881 fine for a similar head-butting incident in the final quarter of the game, whereas JuJu Smith-Schuster was fined $6,722 for a helmet clash in the first half of the game.
NFL comes down heavily on players for violations
During the Chicago Bears vs San Francisco 49ers game on Dec. 8, Darrell Taylor made contact with Niners QB Brock Purdy's neck during the third quarter. But it happened after Purdy had already let the ball fly from his hands. Despite just missing one play of the game in which the Niners eventually won 38-13, Taylor was slapped with a $16,883 fine for his violation.
Monday night against the Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals player Chase Brown scored a touchdown and celebrated by hopping onto one of the Salvation Army kettles kept behind the endzone at AT&T Stadium. During the game, Brown escaped a penalty. However, he was slapped by the NFL with a $5,481 fine for "unsportsmanlike conduct" on Saturday.