Richard Seymour gets slap on the wrist
Chump change. That’s essentially how much Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour got fined for sucker punching (slapping? Open hand chopping?) Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The league handed down a fine of $25,000 on Seymour, and no suspension. That’s right, $25,000. Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison gets fined more than that for breathing on opposing players.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t agree with those who say that the NFL and their officials are targeting the Steelers. But decisions like this help me to better understand why so many Steelers fans do think that the team is being targeted.
If the situation has been reversed, and it had been James Harrison delivering the punch to Jason Campbell or Bruce Gradkowski, how much do you think the fine would have been? $100,000? $150,000? And there probably would have been at least a 1 game suspension added on.
More importantly, if it had been Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees who got punched, rather than “bad boy” Ben Roethlisberger, does anyone out there believe that the fine would have been a mere $25,000? I certainly don’t.
I’ve even heard some people argue that Big Ben “deserved” to be punched, due to his earlier off-field issues. But that has nothing to do with Ben’s previous problems. Richard Seymour was not dishing out justice for female victims, he was being a thug.
What if you were at work, and one of your co-workers randomly sucker punched you. Wouldn’t you expect him to be suspended? Or fired?
The NFL’s rationale for why Seymour only got a $25,000 fine is that there is a pre-defined scale for fines that are handed out for fighting. The first offense cost $10,000, and the second offense cost $25,000. So Richard Seymour got a $25,000 fine.
The problem is that that scale was put into place BEFORE Roger Goodell decided to start fining players for random acts that don’t even draw flags. With players being fined $50,000 or even $75,000 for hits that occur during the course of the game, it makes $25,000 for a punch that took place outside of game action seem much too low.
Is a punch to a defenseless franchise quarterback less egregious than not being able to defy the laws of physics (which seems to be the requirement these days)? What the league is telling us is that rather than taking the risk of accidentally hitting a quarterback late, James Harrison would be better served to merely walk up to him after the play and punch him in the face; the penalty will be lower.
This is why I was not in favor of the league initiating new rules (and fines) in the middle of the season. I knew that they would not be able to foresee all of the things that could happen during a season. New rules need to be instituted during the off-season. Then teams/players can be educated on the new rules, and referees can be trained in how to interpret the new rules when they make calls on the field. But what we’ve go now is referees who seem to be totally confused, and who are making calls that don’t even make sense.
Is there anyone out there who thinks that the referees’ calls during the Steelers/Raiders game made sense? How did they call a penalty for an illegal “helmet-to-helmet” hit when no helmets even made contact?
I don’t mean to be a whiner. I really don’t. But I love this game far too much to see it destroyed by arbitrary rulings that are made by a handful of individuals.
Hopefully, the NFL will revisit their fine structure, and their rules on what constitutes an “illegal hit”. Right now, players, fans, and referees all seem to be………. confused.
If a $25,000 fine for punching a defenseless player isn’t confusing, then I don’t know what is.
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Seymour has no history of dirty hits. First time offender he got 25K. Harrison on the other hand is a multiple offender. If you watch the tape Ben puts his hands on Seymour first and that was his natural reaction. Ben needs to learn to keep his hands to himself on and off the field, otherwise he should expect to have his head kicked in.
1I agree with this whole story! The only reason Seymour’s actions were justified in many eyes was for the simple fact that it was Big Ben! We Steeler fans should stage a similar situation that involves that long haired hippie in Foxborrough and see what the test results yield (lets just make sure it involves somebody we will not miss seeing anymore!). The problem is that guys are bigger, faster, and stronger (and meaner) nowadays. This is football for God’s sakes, can’t we all just not get along and it be okay!? Being a defense loving fan it pains me to see my Steelers held back from their full potential. Please Mr. Goodell, don’t hold Johnny (or James or Lamar or Clark or Troy or Casey or Lawrence etc.) back !!!! And if you must act this way, please take your expertise to say the WFL!!!
2Hang on, Joe! You are right about Seymour’s history-although one could argue that despite not having a history a totally non-football play (vs what the Steelers have been fined for) is much worse and has no place in the game whatsoever. Ben’s words or touching did not justify the reaction by Seymour. He admitted it – he snapped because Ben came up behind him. (I’m sure he though he was Kemo back for another tussle.) Regardless, a punch unrelated to a football play should be fined much heavier than $25K. That inequity sends the wrong message.
3That takes us back to the beginning – the issue is the total inconsistency and random nature of these fines. That is what is aggravating to the players. What makes it look so bad is what Troy and others have pointed out-the same guys are cop, judge and jury. There’s a name for that…Russia!
i myself have a hard time trying to even understand the fine logic here. a player in the heat of the battle is doing his job. sacking the quarterback and trying to not fall him, you can see James trying to pull off so not all his weight comes down on Campbell, but as the ref saw it, james was leveling him into the ground, so untrue, then u have chung for the Patriots going helmet first into Wards helmet and not a penalty or a fine is mentioned. if you wanna stay on the side of err and not believe that this historic winning franchise isn’t being used as an example, knock yourself out, cause there are millions who believe other wise.
4the theme here is protecting players. if you don’t like Roethlisberger for having an affair with that girl fine, maybe there was someone you dated whose father didn’t like you either, but thats not the issue here, the issue here is PLAYER SAFETY. PERIOD. Roethlisberger was defensless and unexpecting of that cowardly hit and a fine to stop that from happening in the future should have been 6 figures at the least. what suckmore did was waaaaay after the whistle. if i were Roethlisberger and now know that the league aint watching out for me like they are brady and manning, i would bring aa assault charge against the 6foot6 idiot.
5Joe,
Seymour does have a prior offense similar in nature. It has been in the last 12 months in fact. That is why he didn’t get the 10,000 fine but a 25,000.
And oooh, let’s make sure we don’t touch someone trying to get through a crowd of players. What a sissy comment that was.
I’m just glad to see the Steelers knock the brakes off the Raiders in spite of the 2,356 yds of penalties. I was hoping we could set the NFL record, whatever that is.
Go Steelers! It’s you against the world baby!!!
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