USA Today Sports
A former Green Bay Packer Offensive Lineman is calling on the NFL to cut back on the player fines.
Evan Smith, who was a part of the Super Bowl-winning Packers team in 2011, spoke with Seehafer News, and he called the number of fines that are being issued “ridiculous.”
“You can’t sit there and rob dude’s whole game checks for blocking a guy,” he said. “I get it, there is an element of player safety, but at some point, you can only make the game so safe before it becomes unsafe.”
Sportrac.com has compiled all of the fines issued this season, and eight Packer players are on the list.
Rasul Douglas has been fined twice this season, both for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, totaling over $25,000.
Also notable is that Lukas Van Ness was fined just shy of $11,000 for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the Thanksgiving game against the Lions.
While many people see NFL athletes as overpaid, Smith reminded us that some of these fines, especially for rookies or those who are not considered “superstars,” are taking away entire game checks.
“Not every dude on that team walks away with a game check with six figures on it. A lot of them are on base salaries,” he explained. “I have heard stuff in the NFL were guys are getting robbed whole game checks and a half just for playing the position they play.”
Smith also commented on the state of officiating, with many people upset with how the Sunday Night game between Green Bay and Kansas City ended.
The former center for Aaron Rodgers has a solution, suggesting, “If you are going to fine players that much, you need to fine refs that much too.”
He did say that he is not envious of the refs as many, if not all of them, have normal 9-5 jobs that they work throughout the week.
Then they come in on Sunday and are expected to be perfect.
“It’s a hard game to ref. It’s fast. Those guys out there are fast,” he said. “There are a lot of bang-bang plays. The stuff with Johnathan Owens getting fined, that’s probably a bang-bang thing.”
He also noted that there are plenty of good refs, but many of them take a pay raise to be talking heads during television broadcasts.
Smith also admitted that being a ref is a thankless job, which is not luring a lot of people to it at all levels, including Friday nights.
