NFL Player fines dispute heating up
Troy Polamalu is entitled to his opinions but Roger Goodell has no reason to pay any attention to what he or any other NFL player has to say about the league’s bumped up fines policy.
That doesn’t mean that Goodell won’t be listening but in the end, the league will do what it feels like it should do. Goodell made it clear that neither active players nor officials would have any say in how the league disciplines players for illegal hits.
So, Polamalu’s reservations about the effect of the beefed up punishments mean nothing to the league. He believes that the league’s crackdown is causing players to be paranoid about making plays for fear of being fined or worse, suspended. He said that the
players should be part of the decision making process regarding discipline for illegal hits.
Not on Goodell’s watch. “I think having active players and active front office executives is something the competition committee has always frowned on,” Goodell said. Contrary to Polamalu’s assertions that the commissioner has too much authority, it was
emphasized by the league that he was not directly involved with the fines process.
That still isn’t enough for Pittsburgh Steelers' James Harrison. He has been the worst hit by NFL after having received a 100,000 dollars pay cut in fines since the season began. Harrison said that he would appeal a $75,000 fine that he was hit with for
a play which knocked out Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi. Harrison met with the commissioner to discuss the rules of the game but came out of that meeting unsatisfied.
Agreeing with teammate Polamalu, Harrison stated that the appeal's process was unfair as it was analogous to being given a ticket by a cop and then having that same cop as the judge when the ticket is challenged.
The problem for defensive players is that the offensive player is always a moving target and at that speed, controlling the hit with a high degree of precision becomes close to impossible. When Harrison met Goodell he outlined that concern. During the meeting
Harrison was told that it was his responsibility, as the player initiating contact, to make sure not to hit a player on the helmet regardless of the circumstances.
But since that meeting, and the barrage of criticism the league has been faced with, Goodell took a much more empathetic stand. “I think that's something that our competition committee and all of our coaches and our player committee often have talked about,
and I think that's something we've got to try to continue to address,” Goodell said addressing concerns of hitting moving players.
The commissioner maintained that the culture of football needs to change from top to the bottom to make the game safer adding that such a change cannot occur overnight. However, he said that players and coaches had responded positively to the league’s efforts
to eliminate helmet to helmet hits. “I think there's much more awareness of it,” Goodell added.
It isn’t just the players and analysts that Goodell is up against. The NFL Players Association has also vowed to take a stand on the fines being placed on players. NFLPA Chief, DeMaurice Smith said that the association would challenge and appeal any decision
that it considers unfair or disproportionate. “The players want to be part of a league and business that doesn't just fine its way to health and player safety,” Smith said.
Smith emphasized that the players are genuinely concerned about injuries and making the game safer but at the same time, they also want the fines process to be fair and transparent. Many defenders have voiced concerns that current NFL rules favour offensive
players while not paying enough attention to hazards that defensive players face.
The fines and player safety are going to be part of the negotiations as the league and the association work on a collective bargaining agreement. The association wants to work on enhanced health and disability benefits into the next CBA.
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