Amon-Ra St. Brown laid what looked like a pretty typical block on Bears safety Jaquan Brisker two weeks ago, and lost almost five percent of his salary for it.
The NFL levied a $43,709 fine against St. Brown for apparently lowering his head to initiate helmet-to-helmet contact with Brisker in the Lions' Week 11 win over the Bears. St. Brown, who has a base salary of $940,000 this year, commented, "I'm hurtingg."
Many players and pundits around the NFL objected to the fine, including future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt. Watt, now an analyst for the NFL on CBS, said on Twitter over the weekend, "Here we go again."
Watt said the "general rule of thumb" should dictate that "if you have to watch the video multiple times to try figuring out which person did something wrong and you still can’t figure it out, we probably shouldn’t be taking $43,709 from someone. This. Is. Stealing. Money." (Insert face-palm emoji).
St. Brown dodged a fine from the NFL earlier this season for his hip-thrusting celebration in the Lions' win over the Chiefs, not that he ever deserved one. This time, he wasn't so lucky.