There continues to be a disconnect between the NFL’s on-field officials and the NFL’s disciplinary procedures for on-field infractions.
The latest example is Raiders defensive lineman Jerry Tillery, who laid a late hit on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Sunday that the officials thought was bad enough for an ejection. The hit set off a skirmish along the sideline as many of Herbert’s teammates came to his defense.
But the NFL only fined Tillery $10,927, much less than many players get fined for seemingly more minor infractions. Today the NFL announced eight different fines for Week Four that were bigger than Tillery’s fine, and yet none of those players got ejected.
In many cases, players get fined more than Tillery’s $10,927 for infractions that aren’t flagged at all. Last week Falcons fullback Keith Smith was fined $87,418, the biggest fine the NFL has given any player this season, for a hit that wasn’t even flagged.
It’s hard to understand how Smith can get fined eight times as much as Tillery, when Smith’s infraction wasn’t even bad enough to draw a penalty flag, while Tillery’s was bad enough to get him ejected. But the NFL’s disciplinary decisions are often hard to understand.
