Was 49ERS George Kittle Fined Unfairly for ‘Profane’ Cowboys Dig? NFL’s $13,659 Slap on the Wrist Brought to Question

There have been numerous controversies that have sprouted out of uniform violations in the NFL. The NFL is very keen about the way the players show up on the field, and if any player tries to overlook the rules, they’ll have to pay a hefty fine. For this reason, the league has 64 uniform inspectors who examine each and every player whether they’re following the uniform codes properly or not. Despite the strict rules, a violation was intentionally committed by one of the league players.

The San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle recently wore a t-shirt under his jersey with a profane message directed toward their opponent, the Dallas Cowboys. Kittle didn’t get away with such an act, and he had to pay a fine for it. However, some believe the NFL player is paying more than the usual price for such violations.

The fine of George Kittle raised some eyebrows on the internet

During the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys, Jordan Mason committed to a 26-yard touchdown. Amidst the celebration of it, George Kittle lifted his uniform and exposed the T-shirt underneath it. The personal message on the T-shirt read “F*** Dallas“. Right then, everybody knew that Kittle would be rightfully fined for this behavior. He had to pay a penalty of $13,659.

Even Kittle accepted it himself, as he said, “It is what it is. It’s a decision I made. If they want to fine me, they fine me.” One fan on the X also supported the fine, however, they also mentioned one important thing. They wrote, “But, the usual price for a personal message uniform violation is almost $11,000 and Kittle’s fine was more than that.”

According to NFL Operations, the first offense fine for personal messages uniform violations is $10,927, while for the second offense, it’s $15,914. Even though it was Kittle’s first offense, he was fined $2,732 more than the usual price. But the fines keep changing, as there are cases where the players have also been fined less than the usual price. Still, this was a little bizarre for the NFL, but there are strange things that have happened before in the league regarding this uniform violation.

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The NFL turned a blind eye to some violations in the past

Back in 2013, the Chicago Bears Wide Receiver, Brandon Marshall, was fined $5,250 for putting on green cleats to support Mental Illness Awareness Week. Then again, in 2015, the former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, William Gay, was fined $5,787 for voicing his support for domestic violence awareness by wearing purple cleats. So, at one point, there were no exceptions made by the league.

Except in 2016, when the NFL allowed the players to support a cause through their uniform over the December 4 2016 weekend. At that time, the league stated that the players had to get their uniform and the cause they’d represent, approved by the management by Week 13. This was done after the league had to penalize a lot of players for the 9/11 tributes through their uniforms. So this was done to settle the debacle.

So, for one week, the NFL allowed the players to get their voices out through one of the biggest platforms in the whole country. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.

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