Following the news that Steelers safety Ryan Clark had been $40K for his hit on Ravens tight end Ed Dickson Sunday night, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a message for NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. According to a tweet by Scott Brown, Roethlisberger said that that Smith should “stand up and do something to protect players.”
Clark has also been very vocal today and also suggested that Smith needs to do something on behalf of players, according to Brown. Clark went on to say that he had no issue with his $15K fine last week for his hit out of bounds the week before on Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, but he takes great exception to this one. Clark continued on that his hit on Dickson shouldn\’t have drawn a penalty, much less hefty fine and he thinks that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is trying to prove a point. As far as an appeal goes, Clark said, “Goodell is not going to sit across from me because I’m not going to sit across from him unless they handcuff me.”
While it is noble for Roethlisberger to speak up as a team leader to protect his fellow teammates, the call out of Smith will likely fall on deaf ears. It was also announced today that Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has been fined for his hit Sunday night on Hines Ward, but Lewis said it would not change the way he plays the game, but did state that he does not even know how they come up with these numbers. He stated he would talk to the league and move on from there.
