I don't think so; Johnson was provoked and had the first punch taken at him. Just because he won the fight doesn't mean he was at fault. what is interesting is that it wasn't announced what will occur to Finnegan. It is possible the NFL sees it as I described and will punish him appropriately. at best Finnegan's jam was illegal hands to the face; at worst it was the actual first punch, because he didn't jam Johnson in any football move I know of, he shoved his hands under his face mask and mugged Johnson's face. that is as good a punch as far as I am concerned. and when Johnson retaliated, Finnegan through a punch, albeit stupidly while Johnson was still wearing his helmet. just because Johnson was bigger and stronger, and then smarter to wait and unload on him after he got him down and his helmet off, doesn't alleviate the fact that Finnegan instigated a fight that was never a football play.
I'm just surprised the league didn't come right out and throw the ban hammer on both of them. I guess my expectation of them is that they are going to hammer max justice all the way around, although, I wouldn't agree with that approach once you look at the film of what happened. I don't think AJ deserves to be suspended... the other guy on the other hand...
Meh. I'm glad there were no suspensions. It's just a fight. They'll both pay a hunk of money, but no one was hurt. This is much less damnable than some of the defenseless cheapshots you see, where someone's year or career could be ended.
That makes sense. It does appear sometimes that the powers that be are more concerned with public perception than player protection.
Did anyone see the NFL.com video from the game? Finnegan was winking afterwards and told the Texans bench to 'Watch this' before the fight. What a fucking punk.
$25,000 each, which will hit Finnegan harder than Johnson. Seems about right. In the end, if the refs spotted this boiling over at the end of the play before, it probably would have ended right there.
THANK YOU! I thought I was crazy when I read PFT and they made it seem like Johnson started the fight. I'm thinking "just cause he stupidly threw the first punch while the helmet was on doesn't negate it." I feel vindicated now. LOL!
25k doesn't seem a lot considering the image the NFL is trying to send out. Don't get me wrong... I would've given AJ a 25k prize for kicking the s out of Finnegan... but still looking at the fines they give for stupid stuff like funny celebrations 25k doesn't seem a lot.
Playing devil's advocate, Johnson did rip off Finnegan's helmet at the end of the last play. Plus, he was fined $7,500 last year for going at it with Finnegan. Finnegan's a first class punk, but Andre's no saint here either. They have a history. The refs had know this.
Right, but it's just a fight. Between two guys all padded up. In a game of controlled violence. Worse things happen at the bottom of a pile-up, but no one sees those. Wake me when someone gets knifed on the fifty yard line.
Heard the thing about Finnegan telling the Houston sideline right before the scuffle play to watch what he'd be doing. Right before the play started he even lined his feet up like a wide receiver does pre-snap. He was raring to go in on Andre. Also heard that during yesterday's game there was also a play where AJ wasn't matched up on Finnegan and it was an incompleted pass towards AJ and Finnegan left his man, came in really late on Johnson after the incomplete and threw in a shoulder for the hell of it. Finnegan's a punk
Sound from NFL.com, they had Johnson mic'd up during the game: http://www.nfl.com/videos/houston-texans/09000d5d81c908d5/Sound-FX-The-fight-before-the-fight All I know is that Dre is a monster, and his voice makes Barry White sound like a woman.
Well I think they have minimums and maximums (25k being the max for fighting) in line with what the minimum league salaries are or something. But yeah I agree that's not a lot, but at least it goes to charity.
