In a pro football world where wearing high-top cleats to honor the passing of Johnny Unitas can earn you a $25,000 fine, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that players hoping to wear red, white and blue gear on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is a punishable offense. Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs tweeted about his new patriotic Reebok gear and how he expects to be fined for wearing it. So did Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. So did Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley and Tennssee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and most of the San Diego Chargers. So whether or not the league approves, they can’t fine everybody for supporting their country … can they?

Briggs:

Reebok great job on these gloves and shoes..looks like I’m getting fined this week. Lol! By far the best fine I will ever have to pay. Thanks…Fines for gloves could be as much as 5k..the shoes 8-10k I think. not 100% on the shoe fine.

Is wearing 9/11 commemorative gear “showboating”? Is it being done to draw attention to the players who choose to break the rules? To give them more media coverage? I’m blogging about them. I think it’s a valid consideration, but when your talking point is “do I or do I not want to show respect and reverence to my country’s worst tragedy in my lifetime” I’d hope the simple gesture of fellowship and patriotism would not go hand-in-hand with the Lambeau Leap. At the same time, what are Never Forget gloves accomplishing, and isn’t there probably a better way for rich people to show their support to the victims of the attacks?

Regardless, don’t assume the league is totally heartless: the NFL and NFLPA will donate $1 million to related charities and memorials. Of course, the average NFL team is worth about $1.04 billion and ESPN just completed an eight-year extension worth as much as $1.9 billion annually with the NFL for the rights to Monday Night Football, so the issues of “how much can we give” and “how much can we take away from you” sort of go hand in hand.

[h/t Shutdown Corner]

Detroit Lions tackle Ndamukong Suh is no stranger to trading paycheck money for Blitz: The League 2-style necksnapping and ballpopping. The league fined him $7,500 for his hit on Jake Delhomme and 15K for his forearm strike (or “two-hand shiver”) to the back of Jay Cutler’s sad head.

Friday night’s game between the Lions and the Cincinnati Bengals happened, and Suh did not react kindly to Richie Cunningham in the pocket. Take a look for yourself.

The NFL hasn’t released any official statement on the hit or the fine, but Ndamukong’s Twitter update has given us an important clue. See if you can figure it out.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exclamation points aside, you can’t grab a quarterback by the head and sling blade him to the ground anymore. That’s how modern football is gonna work. Mathematically he’s doing well, as precedent suggests his previous fine should’ve been doubled, which would’ve left him paying 30-thousand instead of 20. The next hit will cost even more, and after that comes an oral warning. After that, three written warnings, and after that he could be suspended. I think that’s how it works.

Regardless, remind me to never let this guy hold my head.

[h/t Shutdown Corner]

In our continuing effort to share with you the best in sports-centric hip-hop, please enjoy the opening lines of “Niggas in Paris” from Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Watch The Throne” collaboration. It is notable for two reasons: one, because it explicitly deals with New Jersey Nets minority owner Jay-Z’s visit to the Kentucky Wildcats lockeroom during the 2011 NCAA Tournament, a visit that violated NBA regulations and cost him 50-grand; two, because it is the best remake of a Joni Mitchell song ever.

Your lyrics of choice:

So I ball so hard motherf**kers want to fine me
First niggas got to find me
What’s 50 grand to a motherf**ker like me
Can you please remind me?

It seems weird that the NBA doesn’t have a mailing address for a guy who owns part of one of their teams, but there you go. In addition to “a bitch”, a $50,000 fine is not one of Jay-Z’s problems. Kanye backed up Jay by adding an “ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” to the last words at the ends of his sentences to fill up space, a move considered “genius” by everyone who heard it.

You can listen to the song below, if you’re one of those squares who doesn’t already have it. Please be advised that it contains harsh language and adult situations, and that every time they make me type “niggas” I’m pretending to type “guys”.

[h/t Tom Ziller]

It wasn’t LeBron, D-Wade or even Chris Bosh that hit the go-ahead three to nail down a win against Oklahoma City over the weekend. It was Eddie House, he of the 11-years’ and nine-different-teams’ worth of NBA experience, who celebrated his big shot with a tribute to Major League 2 that seemed totally appropriate for the occasion. When asked about the $25,000 fine from the NBA office the following day, House said he “was very surprised” but that doing the Big Balls Dance “was something within the game that I was going to be able to do.” Can we get a ruling on this, Trey Kirby?

Ah, yes, the classic “within the game” defense, which certainly applies to a celebration where you act like you have enormous testicles. Just like Dr. James Naismith included in his “13 Rules of Basketball.” No. 12, of course, reads like so: “If a player makes a big three-pointer, said player should and will be allowed to act as if he’s got gigantic stones. No fines shall be assessed for this action.” It’s a celebration as old as the game itself.

–Trey Kirby/The Score.

Of course, in Naismith’s day, the pantomime was performed much closer to the abdomen. Because the game was full of white folks back then, see. But I defer all questions on the NBA and testicles to Kirbz, who is an authority on such matters. Plus he bakes a mean chocolate almond biscotti.

Shaquielle O’Neal was fined $35,000 for his comments on the poor officiating from the Celtics’ 86-78 loss to Orlando on Christmas Day. When reached for comment, Shaq replied in a manner which made me really wish another Kazaam movie was in production.

I don’t even want to think about how awesome it would be to be able to laugh at losing 35 grand. Shaq has more money than most African countries, and I can’t think about myself never being able to amass that kind of a fortune without getting really depressed. I want deserve a private island staffed exclusively with sandwich-making supermodels, dammit. Video after the jump.

–H/T Ball Don’t Lie

The NFL made a stunning series of decisions regarding this Andre Johnson fight from yesterday. Both players reportedly will be punished equally, which is a surprise when one considers the reputation of the instigator–Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan–and his overtly crass demonstration after his ejection from that game. But also, neither player will be suspended.

@Mortreport is reporting Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan each have been fined $25,000. Neither player will be suspended.

–@Adam_Schefter

That seems insanely low to me, and I openly question the logic of Merton Hanks and the guys making these decisions on the 17th floor at 280 Park. If you don’t want to suspend either guy during a division title run (especially with the Colts struggling in the AFC South), that’s fine. But how can you fine two different guys half of what you fined James Harrison, who was actually playing the game? Forget about the fight for a second; I don’t see how Finnegan’s antics after getting tossed didn’t warrant something extra from the 17th floor. Was that any better for the game than a defender trying to do his job? Considering Finnegan’s reputation, that might have been exactly what we were seeing.

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was fined $50,000 by his team after this photo of his popping off the bird at the STRIKEFORCE Miami event last weekend came to light. Ryan allegedly told some Dolphins fans that they were number fter being allegedly heckled by some Miami Dolphins fans in the audience. The NFL technically could also fine Ryan, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier that the league is satisfied with the Jets’ pre-emptive action.

The incident certainly has been embarrassing for Ryan, who signed a four-year, $11.6 million deal when he was hired last January.[..]

“It was stupid and inappropriate,” Ryan said in his apology Sunday. “I wouldn’t accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere.” –NY Post.

I was disappointed to see Ryan fined; if a football coach can’t shoot the bird at unruly Dolphins fans during the offseason, then the terrorists have won. That said, Ryan almost looks like he was posing for this shot. “Hey Coach! Give us the bird!” “Sure, boys.” I wonder if this image was taken with a Flip camera; it would have been apropos.

Img.

LeBron James got pinched again, this time by the NBA for $25,000 after this sideline temper tantrum. Poor little Bron-Bron got testy after a no-call when he drove the lane against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and subsequent pouting about it on the other end of the floor. And then I guess he kicked one of those big Gatorade jugs, too. Oh LeBron, after I defended you to all of my fellow bloggerati, you had to go and do something petulant. You’re not gonna get those calls when you hit the lane looking like Adrian Peterson on a halfback dive. Who do you think you are? Dwyane Wade? –LA Times. vid via Ball Don’t Lie. Also.

So after South Carolina beat Kentucky Tuesday night, the student body at the Columbia, SC school stormed the floor, getting their program a $25,000 fine from the Southeastern Conference. I don’t get it; suddenly the SEC doesn’t want its students showing off their great team speed?

The league levied a fine of $25,000 because the school was guilty of a second violation of the rule, which prohibits fans from entering the playing area during or immediately after a game.

“This policy is designed to create a safe environment for everyone who participates and attends our athletic contests,” said SEC commissioner Mike Slive in a statement. “The security and protection of our student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans is our primary concern.” –Sports Network.

People in the media love to bitch about college students running onto the court after a win, and most of the time that just comes off as hot air, even though Indiana doing so after beating Minnesota seems a bit much. But if you knock off the No. 1 team in the polls or a big rival at home, shouldn’t there be some kind of exemption from public sanction? A fine for that is ridiculous, but you have to admire their gall. The Big Ten only would have fined them $15,000.

Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Flozell Adams has been fined $50,000 for a shove in the back and subsequent fracas with several New York Giants at the end of the first half of their game Sunday. I say “fracas,” because it’s definitely more than a “quarrel,” but falls considerably short of a “donnybrook.”

Adams did not receive a suspension, said the person, who requested anonymity Wednesday because the punishment had not yet been announced by the league.

Adams already has been fined $25,000 for incidents in three other games this season, including $12,500 stemming from Dallas’ first meeting with New York in Week 2, when Adams tripped [Giants defensive lineman Justin] Tuck.[..]

Adams was fined $7,500 by the NFL after kicking at Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers in Week 3. He was docked $5,000 for an unnecessary roughness penalty in the opener at Tampa Bay before the first incidents with the Giants. –FOXSports.com

Watch the video after the jump to see Tuck call Flozell a dirtbag. But Flozell Adams seems to get away with just about anything, which is why a lot of people are wondering why someone hasn’t “taken him out” already. It’s simple. The league has already established itself as a central overseer of player discipline. Unlike the more donnybrook-friendly NHL, the NFL reviews game videotape out the wazoo, meaning that anyone set on delivering justice almost certainly will get a suspension of his own. Honestly, if Flozell didn’t have that big star on his helmet, I’m sure that he would have sat a couple game’s already. Jerry Jones seems to have a way of keeping the troublemakers on his roster…on his roster.