Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard is fed up with the NFL's excessive fines for players. This season, the league has looked to enforce taunting calls more. This has led to a myriad of questionable calls and overall outrage from players and fans as players continue to get called (and get fined) for simply showing emotion after plays.
In response to fellow Colts linebacker E.J. Speed tweeting that he allegedly got fined for standing over an opponent, Leonard blasted the league for taking the fun out of the sport. He also pointed out that the people enforcing these fines don't have the experience of playing football at a competitive level.
Man, that’s crazy as hell that you got fined for this BS! These lame folks that never played the game or haven’t been through a training camp or made it out the mud are taking the fun out of it man! https://t.co/TPsWzBVOV7
— Darius Shaquille Leonard (@dsleon45) November 12, 2021
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The heavy enforcement of taunting penalties is made all-the-more infuriating when incidents like what happened to the Chicago Bears pop up. Linebacker Cassius Marsh was flagged for running into an official, even though the official clearly backed up into him. Players and officials are constantly at odds with each other, and this conflict will only escalate as the season goes on.
Leonard is not the first player to express anger over the NFL's fines and he won't be the last. The NFL has long had issues with penalizing players over trivial matters, and this season's attempt to restrict the controversy around taunting opponents has spawned a new one.
The 4-5 Colts are facing the 2-6 Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday.