The fine was a very controversial call from the start! This only goes to show one thing. That there’s a huge communication gap between the referees on the field and the NFL’s disciplinary office. Who was the latest victim of this? New York Jets’ running back, Breece Hall. So, what was his call that invited a $43,709 fine on Hall?
After the NFL fined him, Hall was understandably livid. He had torn his ACL last season. And had to watch from the sidelines for several games. Maybe that’s why he was so physically defensive. He did not want to lost another season.
Breece Hall escapes unscathed
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It was a game against the Atlanta Falcons. In the Jets’ very first possession, Hall caught a short pass. He rushed for seven yards. But then disaster struck! He collided with Falcons’ CB AJ Terrell. The league took cognizance of that. And brought down the hammer on Hall. His punishment? The league fined him $43,709 for “roughness“. Naturally, he appealed the fine. After much discussion, the league has finally decided to rescind the fine. Thereby, validating Halls’ stance that it was a legal play.
Upon appeal, #Jets RB Breece Hall’s $43,709 fine has been rescinded for this play last month, per source. pic.twitter.com/In3h2A8ute
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 13, 2024
Most of us remember the game for how unpredictable it was. No one could have predicted that the mighty Eagles would fall to the Falcons. But they did. As if the loss wasn’t enough, he received a fine as well. The weird thing about the fine was, that the referees hadn’t even flagged it during the game!
He made his reaction known publicly.
Hall pushes back against the NFL
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Hall rushed to X. A place where he knew he could vent his frustration with his followers. “I’m supposed to just let him hit me?” He was sad that the NFL was being so strict about rules. So much that players can’t even defend themselves now. Another tweet followed this one, showing his agitation at the fine. “I’ll just let him dive at my knees next time I guess?”, followed by a magnifying glass emoji and then, “not like I tore my ACL or anything lol.”
The NFL fined #Jets RB Breece Hall $43,709 for unnecessary roughness last week — lowering the head to initiate contact with #Falcons CB A.J. Terrell, who ended up in concussion protocol. pic.twitter.com/R4gNMFImiT
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 9, 2023
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And $43,709 is a huge sum for the 22-year-old. His base salary is around $1,114,762 this season. That translates to $61,931 per game. And the fine amount was a great deal more than half of that. It was also the largest fine of the week. Should the league be more careful in passing sentences on players? Or is it justified in doing so in the name of player safety?
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