Barnett fined ... and fined ... and fined ...

[packers11]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/ic/blogs/insider/index.shtml

Barnett fined ... and fined ... and fined ...

Friday, September 19, 2008

Barnett fined ... and fined ... and fined ...
Nick Barnett is on a bad streak when it comes to keeping his paycheck.

As the Press-Gazette's Pete Dougherty first reported last month, Barnett played the season opener against Minnesota for free, forfeiting his game check because of a violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy.

In the season's first two weeks, Barnett has been fined twice more. An NFL spokesman confirmed this morning that Barnett was fined $7,500 for a play in each game -- a horse-collar tackle of Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson on Sept. 8, and "helmet to helmet contact" on a hit on Lions quarterback Jon Kitna last week. Neither play drew a flag.

Counting the loss of 1/17 of his base salary ($117,647) in Week 1, Barnett now has lost $132,647 in a matter of weeks, pending appeal. He's slated to make $2 million in base salary this season, plus bonuses totaling $775,000.

-- Tom Pelissero, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com

[packers11]

Re: Barnett fined ... and fined ... and fined ...

Counting the loss of 1/17 of his base salary ($117,647) in Week 1, Barnett now has lost $132,647 in a matter of weeks, pending appeal. He's slated to make $2 million in base salary this season, plus bonuses totaling $775,000.

I thought he got a new contract extension? How does he only make 2 mill in base salary?

[packers11]

nevermind. I looked it up...

https://www.rotoworld.com

4/10/2007: Signed a six-year, $34.975 million contract. The deal included a $5.1 million signing bonus. 2008: $2 million (+ $625,000 roster bonus + $150,000 workout bonus - $155,882 for violating NFL's conduct policy), 2009: $3 million (+ $375,000 roster bonus + $150,000 workout bonus), 2010: $4 million (+ $375,000 roster bonus + $150,000 workout bonus), 2011: $5.5 million (+ $375,000 roster bonus + $150,000 workout bonus), 2012: $6 million (+ $375,000 roster bonus + $150,000 workout bonus), 2013: Free Agent

[boiga]

I saw both of those plays live and can't understand why they would be illegal offenses.

In that horse collar sack, he initially grabbed the collar, but then released while holding on to the jersey. He also didn't jerk T-Jack back into the ground but just held on until he was stopped and help arrived. There was no possibility of injury from that action and it was a jersey grab in the end, not a horse collar.

For the hit to the helmet on Kitna, Kitna was out of the pocket and Barnett led with his shoulder. Sure it was a brutal tackle, but leading with a shoulder into a guy how is functionally a running back is not a dirty play.

So, either they have decided to be more ticky tacky about these fines than in the past in order to scare NFL players into playing less dangerously, or this is just a bunch of hooey. Barnett didn't break any rules, so why is he being fined?

[MadtownPacker]

He should have never started jaywalking. It is a gateway crime.

[cpk1994]

He should have never started jaywalking. It is a gateway crime.

It was racial profiling and you know it.

[MadtownPacker]

It was racial profiling and you know it.

I just dont understand why he didnt have his buddy Cole gt him out of trouble with the GB police.

[BallHawk]

Horsecollar? No.

Helmet-to-helmet? Yes.

[boiga]

Horsecollar? No.

Helmet-to-helmet? Yes.

I'm just going by memory, so I might be mistaken, but I remember him leading with his shoulder into kitna's chest. There was incidental helmet to helmet contact as they went to the ground, but he did not lead with his helmet.

I guess my issue is that his tackle against a RB wouldn't have been fined. But even though Kitna was out of the pocket and by the rules effectively a running back, Barnett was still expected to go easy on the guy. They are enforcing a double standard that has no basis in the rules.

[BallHawk]

I remember Marinelli going apeshit when Barnett made that hit. I only saw the replay once or twice, but it looked dirty to me.

[Patler]

The Kitna hit wasn't helmet-to-helmet, but from one angle it sure looked like he put his shoulder pad into Kitna's helmet, which I think can also be a penalty too, can't it? (Blow to the head.)

[mission]

The Kitna hit wasn't helmet-to-helmet, but from one angle it sure looked like he put his shoulder pad into Kitna's helmet, which I think can also be a penalty too, can't it? (Blow to the head.)

Yep. That's exactly what I anticipated when I saw it happen in the game ... no flag tho.

[MJZiggy]

I kinda think it should be no flag, no fine. If it was that bad a hit or against the rules, the field should have a little laundry on it. How can it be a fin-able offense if it wasn't even called a penalty. Fines should be no-brainers not even worth discussing.

[boiga]

I kinda think it should be no flag, no fine. If it was that bad a hit or against the rules, the field should have a little laundry on it. How can it be a fin-able offense if it wasn't even called a penalty. Fines should be no-brainers not even worth discussing.

I agree insofar that only egregious non-calls should be fined by the league. If someone delivers a dirty hit away from the action and without the refs noticing, fine the guy. But if a ref is right there with a perfect view of what happened and decides not to call the fine, the referee's opinion should trump that of the league office.

Fines should require a higher degree of malicious intent than a personal foul penalty, not less.

[bobblehead]

The Kitna hit wasn't helmet-to-helmet, but from one angle it sure looked like he put his shoulder pad into Kitna's helmet, which I think can also be a penalty too, can't it? (Blow to the head.)

Ok, I'll lead by saying that if you hit his head you will get fined. That out of the way, when I saw it live I expected a flag. When I saw the slowmo replay I saw a legit hit where Kitna ducked at the last second and lowered his head squarly into Barnettts shoulder....No way barnett avoids that without allowing kitna to make a play.