Hitting franchise quarterbacks after the whistle never comes cheap.
The NFL handed down swift disciplinary receipts to Kansas City Chiefs defenders L’Jarius Sneed and Christian Roland-Wallace, docking their paychecks directly for unnecessary roughness violations against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Two Chiefs Players, One Chargers Player Fined
According to the NFL accountability report, Sneed received a $6,750 fine for unnecessary roughness after making contact with Herbert, while Roland-Wallace was fined $5,981 for striking Harkey.
Sneed copped the largest fine of the group at $6,750 for his first-quarter collision with Herbert. While Roland-Wallace provided the actual fireworks with a fourth-quarter punch and ejection, Sneed’s knee catching Herbert’s helmet triggered the league’s heaviest financial hit under its quarterback protection mandate.
Sneed’s attempt to leap clear backfired when his knee collided directly with Herbert’s head. Despite spreading his palms to argue he attempted to pull up and avoid contact, the call for unnecessary roughness still stood.
Then came the Roland-Wallace play with an immediate side of public humiliation. He turned a routine fourth-quarter whistle into a total breakdown of chaos. After absorbing a late shove to the back from Chargers lineman Alex Harkey, Roland-Wallace snapped, throwing a wild punch on the field that drew an instant personal foul flag and sent him straight to the locker room via automatic ejection.
It might still not be over for Roland-Wallace, though. Rumors of an outright suspension swirled immediately after the game, but the NFL is yet to make any announcement regarding that. It could come later.
Harkey paid his own tax for sparking the fourth-quarter brawl. The NFL docked the Chargers guard $5,277 for unnecessary roughness after he shoved Roland-Wallace from behind.
The Real Brawl Didn’t Even Make it on the Official List
That was just the official list, though, and it doesn’t even tell the most explosive brawl that had the Chiefs holding their breath.
Chargers Daiyan Henley appeared to execute an illegal hip-drop tackle in the opening offensive drive while bringing TE Travis Kelce down, which resulted in Kelce’s ankle getting tweaked. Kelce sat out the game for a while before coming back in to finish the game.
Several reports had Henley potentially facing the most brutal fines of them all, a hefty five-figure amount, but his name was nowhere on the list.
Still, that $5k hit doesn’t even rank among the most outrageous fine checks handed out to Los Angeles defenders over the first six weeks.
NFL slapped Johnson with a massive $17,389 fine for an unnecessary roughness infraction in the second quarter vs. the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7, calling his tackle in the endzone after an interception a hip-drop tackle. The play wasn’t even flagged during the game.
NFL Fines Chiefs Defenders After Dangerous Hits on Chargers’ Justin Herbert