While Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t likely to soon forget the hit that he took from Baltimore Ravens linebacker Courtney Upshaw a week ago Thursday, Upshaw’s bank account could be the thing that is ultimately hurt the most.
According to a Friday evening report by the Baltimore Sun, Upshaw has been fined $16,537 by the league office for his first quarter roughing-the-passer penalty last week.
The second-year linebacker plans to appeal the fine, according to the paper.
“Yeah, they fined me. They got me,” Upshaw said. “Of course, I’m going to appeal. That’s $16,000. At the end of the day, I’ve got to appeal it.They said I got him with my helmet. It’s the rules. It’s kind of tough.”
Personally, I’d like to see Upshaw win his appeal as I still think he did everything in his power to deliver a legal hit. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh also said as much during his Monday press conference.
“There’s no way to coach Courtney out of that. He’s coming full speed, he’s getting down into the strike zone, and he’s keeping his eyes up,” said Harbaugh. “He can’t lift his head any higher than that. He also can’t get his head off to the side, because Ben’s moving, and also the fact that if he gets his head off to the side, he has a real good chance of missing the tackle or hurting himself by dropping his head.”
None of the other three players that delivered big hits in the game were fined even though two of those players, Steelers safeties Troy Polamalu and Mike Mitchell, were both flagged for unnecessary roughness for their hits.
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