There’s no arguing that player safety should be the number one priority of the NFL. But sometimes the management may get carried away with the fines and penalties. From fining players for excessive celebration to unnecessary roughness, the NFL has collected a total of more than $3.2 million already this season! To put it into perspective, that’s almost two times the average annual salary of a running back in the league. And the season is just halfway done. But do players deserve the fines imposed on them every time?

JJ Watt appears to have a strong answer for that. The former NFL star came forth with a blunt remark concerning the NFL fines and punishments. His opinion went as far as calling the action “stealing” which clearly did not seem fair to the 34-year-old athlete.

JJ Watt calls out the NFL for imposing excessive fines from players

JJ Watt, a DE for the Arizona Cardinals, who retired in 2022, took to X to comment on the recent fine on Baltimore Ravens FB Patrick Ricard in the game against his former team, the Cardinals. Evidently disappointed, Watt commented, “I will say it again… This is STEALING money from guys. These absurd fines for routine football plays have got to stop.” 

His reaction was presented in context to a video shared by Jonas Shaffer, a writer with the Baltimore Banner. The video showed a tackle by Patrick Ricard at the 6-yard line. Ricard was fined $21,694 for “unnecessary roughness” during the second-quarter play. From the video, it was clear that Ricard played a “cut block” which is a legal move.

“You can LITERALLY target a players knee with your helmet intentionally. So don’t act like we’re on some high and mighty “player safety” crusade,” Watt fired in the comments. This reaction of JJ Watt also received several affirmations, one, in particular, highlighted an important query circling around appeals. Other X users also couldn’t hold back from expressing their support for the same.

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Unfair fine by NFL fine draws flak from football fans

The fine angered many X users who flooded the comments section with their reactions. @KennethHazlett_ said that the NFL wants to make tackle football into flag football as the Olympics had recently started discussions on including flag football as part of the Olympics. “They want it to turn into flag football. Tackle football will be gone in 10 years or less.”

While another user said, “I completely agree, That’s not right Is there a way players can appeal the fine? Or is it one of those things that you have to deal with it no matter what?” The question concerning the appeal for the fine sounded legit and many might have a similar query. The answer to this is, yes, NFL players can appeal against fines. However, only time will tell if the amount will be reduced.

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