Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions said he understands the NFL’s stance on his recent fine for an illegal block, but he disagrees with the amount.
St. Brown was fined $43,709 for a block thrown against the Chicago Bears in his team’s Week 11 victory, prompting outrage from across the NFL. Brown addressed the fine this week, stating that he intended to petition the league to reduce the amount.
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This season, the league has placed a greater emphasis on enforcing player safety, including greater transparency on fines imposed on players. Every Saturday, fines are published, and Brown’s was the highest of all those announced by the league on November 25.
St. Brown admitted to reporters on November 30 that he needed to adjust his blocking to avoid making contact with the defender’s head.
“That’s what it is. “It’s a lot of money,” he told SI.com. “I guess the way I blocked wasn’t legal.” They said it was a forceful head contact, so I guess I’ll just have to do better.”
However, St. Brown stated that it was difficult for players to follow all of the rules, and that he intended to file an appeal regarding the amount of his fine.
“I mean, I suppose so. “At the end of the day,” St. Brown said, “I feel like there’s only so much we can do as players.” “I mean, we can speak up about it, but there are still rules in the game that must be followed, and we must do our best to follow those.” But, I don’t know, I feel like $43,000 is a lot for what I did. I’m going to file an appeal. We’ll see how things go.”
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The fine was met with strong opposition at the time, as St. Brown appeared to make only light contact with the defender on the play. Former NFL star J.J. Watt expressed his displeasure on social media, saying the league was “stealing” money from St. Brown.
“Here we go again… ” “We probably shouldn’t be taking $43,709 from someone if you have to watch the video multiple times to figure out who did something wrong and you still can’t figure it out,” Watt wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This. Is. Stealing. Money.”
St. Brown initially criticized the amount, telling X how much it would deduct from his pay: “Almost 5% of my salary.” “I’m in pain.”
St. Brown is still in the third year of his rookie contract, according to Jeremy Reisman of SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit, with a total salary of $940,000 this year.
“And while in the long run, St. Brown is going to get paid and this will only be a drop in the bucket, it speaks to a larger point for players who will not get massive extensions and their entire careers may be played on cheap rookie deals,” Reisman said in a statement. “These types of fines are not insignificant to those players.”
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