According to a recent study, it’s pretty common for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ pocketbooks to be lighter after games. Gambling.com compiled the number of fines given to each team for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties over the past five years and the Steelers have the second-most in the league with eleven, trailing only the Denver Broncos’ 12.
In total, it adds up to more than $145,000, sixth most in the league.
Here’s the results, as tweeted out by Broncos’ reporter Benjamin Allbright.
As Allbright alludes to, a large chunk of the Steelers’ fines stem from the Mason Rudolph/Myles Garrett fight in 2019. That drew heavy fines and penalties for both sides. Garrett missed the rest of the season while several Steelers were fined. Here’s the full, CVS-receipt list of all the fines handed out to players which doesn’t even include the $250k penalty assessed to each organization.
In 2022, notable unsportsmanlike conduct fines were assessed to WR Diontae Johnson and LB Marcus Allen after drawing penalties in a win over the Carolina Panthers. Allen’s was particularly egregious, running over to the Panthers’ huddle to jaw with players. Earlier in the season, OT Chukwuma Okorafor was dinged $10,000 for a late hit on Baltimore Ravens’ LB Roquan Smith.
Looking at fines more broadly, we wrote earlier in the year Pittsburgh was the league’s most fined team overall in 2022 with just shy of $200,000 in infractions. However, that largely stemmed from the financial punishments handed out following the team’s defensive celebration against the Indianapolis Colts for making a shooting motion in the end zone. Thirteen Steelers were fined collectively nearly $140,000 for their actions.
Per the Gambling.com study, the San Francisco 49ers have been the NFL’s cleanest team, not incurring a single fine for unsportsmanlike conduct in the past five years. The New York Giants are right ahead of them with only one such fine. Around the AFC North, the Browns have nine, the Cincinnati Bengals six (it helps that LB Vontaze Burfict hasn’t played in five years), and Baltimore Ravens five.
