Chargers’ Melvin Ingram fined $15,750 for hit on Drew BreesOne of the biggest plays of Sunday night’s Chargers-Saints game came when Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw an interception that Chargers linebacker Demorrio Williams returned for a touchdown — only to have the touchdown called back on a roughing the passer penalty on Melvin Ingram.That play was incredibly costly for the Chargers: If the touchdown had counted, San Diego would have led 31-14. Instead, the touchdown was wiped off the board, the Saints scored on that possession to narrow the deficit to 24-21, and the Saints ended up coming back to win the game 31-24. And now the play has become costly for Ingram, too.The NFL has fined ingram $15,750 for the hit, saying that Ingram lowered the crown of his helmet into Brees’s chin.Some Chargers fans have taken issue with the flag, saying that Ingram was just rushing straight ahead at Brees and trying to do his job, but Chargers coach Norv Turner noted that Ingram also had a costly roughing the passer penalty in Week One against the Raiders, and said Ingram needs to get it straightened out.“We’re going to fix that issue,” Turner said. “It’s coaching and it’s technique. It’s him understanding the way the games are officiated. There’s no question that we addressed it after the Raider game, and it’s something that we’re going to have to deal with. . . . You look at the great pass-rushers in this league and they’ve all learned how to handle it. We’ve got to get Melvin to do the same thing.”Losing 15 grand may help Melvin learn that he has to be able to generate pressure without drawing flags.
I can deal with the penalty because by the letter of the law it was a foul. However, I'm not sure a fine is fair. It wasn't malicious or intentional in my opinion. Just seems like overkill to fine the guy. If he had left his feet or hit him square in the helmet instead of grazing his face mask, then fine. To bad, but that play costing us the game was a bigger deal anyway.
The hit that took Brian Cushing out for the season was only $10K. Melvin's hit gets fined over $15K? For causing an alleged boo-boo on Brees' chin?
No surprise here. Goodell has to do something to keep Brees' big mouth from panning him too much in public.
1st rounders aren't payed enough anymore for 15k to be "chump change". That's probably 1/4 of a game check after taxes.
Seems appropriate here ...... Kevin Greene: NFL can’t control accidents Posted by Josh Alper on October 13, 2012, 8:25 AM EDT APWhen Packers linebacker Nick Perry found out about his $15,750 fine for a hit on Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, he said that he needs to be “more focused on making a playwithout the head.” Watching the play that earned Perry the fine, it doesn’t seem like he does anything particularly wrong in that regard. Perry’s technique looks sound, but his helmet appears to ride up into Luck’s. That’s enough to earn him a flag and a fine, although his position coach thinks the NFL’s decision to levy that fine is misguided. Kevin Greene was a pretty good pass rusher back in the day and feels bad for today’s pass rushers because he thinks they play in a league that punishes players for the wrong kinds of things. Hits like Perry’s are accidental in Greene’s mind and he doesn’t believe the NFL can erase them from the game. “I think it’s unfortunate for today’s pass rusher because a lot of times we know the rules, but the game moves at such a high, energetic, physical tempo and a lot of these hits are totally accidental – not malicious,” Greene said, via Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “People are trying to control an accident. You cannot control an accident. You can control malicious (hits). I understand fining people for malicious (hits), but you can’t control accidents – hence the world accident. It’s like a car wreck. No one wants to be in a car wreck. I don’t know a lot of people who want to maliciously wreck the car. It’s an accident. They are trying to control an accident, which is an uncontrollable occurrence. They’re trying to control it with penalties and/or fines. It can’t be done. In my 15 years, I’m convinced you cannot control an accident.” To continue Greene’s car wreck analogy, you can control against an accident by being so cautious that it takes you three hours to go 15 miles. An NFL defender could do the same thing, although he wouldn’t continue being an NFL defender for very long if he did decide to go that route. So they’ll keep playing fast and there are going to be hits like Perry’s in the future. Greene’s almost certainly right that there’s no way to legislate such plays out of the game as long as it moves at a high speed, but it’s just as certain that the NFL is going to continue to fine the players who dish them out.
It started out as a $3,150 fine and then they saw it was Drew Brees that got hit and multiplied it by 5.
Since all of these fines are ultimately donated to charity it constitutes a charitable donation. I still think it's absurd. It wasn't a malicious hit. If it had been on a RB then no one would've batted an eyelash.
If the QB had been Rivers, they would have flagged him for hitting a defenseless defender in the head. I would guess his fine would have been $150,000.
If you count 1 year of his prorated signing bonus and salary, Melvin will make 1.5 million this year, so 15000 bucks is 1% of his salary. For the average person, that's roughly the equivalent of a speeding ticket. Perhaps not "chump change," but it's hardly going to cause him to alter his lifestyle.
