Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown received perhaps the most shocking fine of this NFL season when the league docked him $43,709 for a block that wasn’t flagged by the officials and didn’t appear to be particularly vicious or egregious. Unsurprisingly, St. Brown will appeal.
But St. Brown also said he understands why the NFL fines players and supports efforts to make the game safer.
“It is a lot of money, but I guess, you know, the way I block wasn’t legal,” St. Brown said, via MLive.com. “They said it was like forcible contact to the head. Like I said, I just got to be better. But there are still rules that have to be followed in the game, and we got to try our best to follow those. But, yeah, I mean, I feel like $43,000 for what I did was quite a lot. But it’s fine. I’m going to appeal it, we’ll see what happens.”
St. Brown said he does appreciate the NFL trying to take head shots out of the game.
“I’m on the offensive side of the ball. I’m not complaining too much,” St. Brown said. “We’re the ones that have to take the hits. It’s really rare that we get to deliver blows. If I was a defender, I would probably be saying ‘yeah’ to you, but as an offensive player, I don’t mind it. I go across the middle. They’re trying to protect us [and] I’m all for it.”
It’s admirable that St. Brown had such a nuanced response to a fine that seemed so unfair. He would seem to have a very good case in his appeal, but he also understands why the NFL takes hits to the head seriously.
