Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson has decided to accept his punishment.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Johnson has decided not to appeal the $25,000 fine imposed against him last week for criticizing officials after a Week 8 loss to the Jaguars.
Said Johnson after the October 29 loss, “I didn’t like the refs today. They must’ve got paid good today or something, but they blew -- that field goal, that hurt us coming into the half. We needed that.”
One reason to not appeal comes from the procedure employed. Fines of this type don’t fall within the joint procedure created by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. Instead, the league controls the appeal. Given what Johnson said, there was no way around the fine. Especially with the league calling the shots.
So why bother to even try to appeal, if the appeal was destined to fail?
