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Just one month after losing a bet on his alma mater USC, things have yet to pick up for Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The pass catcher was fined $43,709 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness on what appeared to be a relatively harmless block on the Chicago Bears safety Jaquon Brisker, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The incident occurred during Detroit's Week 11 31-26 win over Chicago on November 19th. Check out the video of the play here:
It’s not just running backs: The NFL fined #Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown $43,709 for this block last week against Chicago.
St. Brown is wearing No. 14 here. The league has been cracking down on lowering the head to initiate contact. pic.twitter.com/8vJ5MLgeK4
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 25, 2023
No flag was thrown on the play, and while St. Brown did lower his head before contact — a move the NFL has been aggressively trying to eliminate, the $40K fine certainly seems steep. Offensive players have increasingly become targets of NFL discipline this season for plays away from the ball.
The Lions pass catcher later posted a response to the fine on social media that read: “Almost 5% of my salary. I’m hurtingg,” [sic] a quip that seems to indicate he's taking it in stride.
While the $43,709 fine seems like an arbitrary amount, it is, in fact, the exact amount stated for “impermissible use of the helmet” in the NFL bylaws. The fine for a first offense is listed as $21,855, an amount that doubles for a player's second offense. However, in this instance, it's not clear when Amon-Ra St. Brown's first incident was.
According to official NFL league data, 296 of the 25,174 plays so far in the 2023 season have resulted in fines. Detroit wide receiver Kalif Raymond was also fined $15,138 for unnecessary roughness during the team's Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. 2023 marks the first season the NFL is making player fines public.
