Pittsburgh Steelers LB Kwon Alexander was fined $43,709 following the team’s first preseason game for lowering his helmet to hit Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ RB Chase Edmonds, a fine which Alexander appealed. The appeal was successful, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported today that the fine was rescinded.
Alexander was fined for Impermissible Use Of The Helmet/Launching, and he was also flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play. Getting those type of hits out of the game is a point of emphasis for the NFL this year, and they seemingly tried to make an example out of Alexander for a hit that didn’t appear to be all that bad.
With Alexander signing a one-year, veteran-benefit contract, the fine was a pretty heavy hit (no pun intended) to his wallet, but now that’s money he’ll keep. He expressed his displeasure with the fine when it was levied last month, so I’m sure he’s quite happy with the NFL’s ruling today.
“You know how the league is nowadays,” he said. “You can’t even hit too hard right now. You can barely touch him,” Alexander said back in August.
Alexander’s played a big role for the Steelers’ defense so far this season, registering 17 tackles in two games so far. He joined the Steelers early in training camp, and jumped on the moving train to the point where he’s already seen 99 defensive snaps in Pittsburgh’s first two games.
He’s a part of the team’s inside linebacker rotation with Elandon Roberts, and the hard-hitting linebacker will hope to avoid getting his pockets pinched with more fines this season. The original hit wasn’t even bad, with the penalty being questionable and the fine seeming like overkill. The NFL made the right decision by rescinding it, and now Alexander can put his sole focus on football and not worry about the almost $44k he was going to lose thanks to a silly ruling by the NFL.
