Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ross Cockrell will likely be out some his yearly salary for the holidays a result of his late hit on Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Lucky Whitehead in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game at Heinz Field.
According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cockrell was fined $9,115 by the league this week for his Sunday infraction.
With 7:51 left in the fourth quarter, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott completed a short pass to Whitehead on the right side of the field near the sideline. After advancing about 4 yards up the field after the catch, Whitehead stepped out of bounds and Cockrell lowered his shoulder into the wide receiver when he was clearly out of play.
Cockrell was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness and that Cowboys possession ultimately culminated in a touchdown 9 plays later.
In case you are curious, the CBA has rules in place that restricts fines to a percentage of the weekly pay that a player earns. In the case of Cockrell, who is earning $600,000 this season, the league can only fine him 25% of his weekly pay which in his case is roughly $8823.53. It’s not much of a discount, but every little bit helps.
Cockrell is the second Steelers player to be fined this week as linebacker Jarvis Jones also lost some of his weekly check after being docked for an apparent horse-collar tackle on Cowboys running back Alfred Morris.
Much like Jones, I expect Cockrell will appeal his fine even though he’s unlikely to win.
