The National Football League has built a bad reputation for making many bad decisions regarding disciplining players for their actions on and off the field. Most of the time the decision-making in terms of fines or suspensions usually doesn’t fit the crime. Sometimes their ways of discipline are too much and other times, it’s not enough.
Another example of the league overstepping occurred yesterday when Chiefs safety Mike Edwards was reportedly fined more than $16k for his tackle on quarterback Russell Wilson when Kansas City hosted the Denver Broncos last week.
As you can see, Edwards came on a safety blitz and executed a textbook tackle by leading with his shoulder and wrapping up to tackle Wilson as he threw the ball. This is football 101 yet, Edwards was penalized and fined anyway.
Slowed down, the back of Wilson’s head appeared to hit the turf. However, the veteran was unharmed from the hit when the clip was played at full speed. Edwards was penalized for roughing the passer at the time the play occurred and the 15-yard foul helped extend the Broncos’ drive during the fourth quarter on what would’ve been a 4th down, and they eventually scored their only touchdown of the game.
The NFL has made some bad calls, but disciplining players for making textbook tackles is entering another level of ridiculousness.
