Turns out, WR George Pickens was fined for his explicit eye black message against the Dallas Cowboys. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Pickens was fined $10,231 for his “personal message” he wore for last Sunday’s primetime matchup.
In a Sunday night game viewed by more than 20 million people, Pickens wasn’t exactly discreet about his choice. His eye black read “Open Fucking Always.” But his play didn’t match the message, finishing with just three catches for 26 yards as he played a season low 34 snaps and 59-percent of the offense’s reps.
That fine comes in addition to the $10,230 penalty levied against him for pulling down Dallas Cowboys CB Jourdan Lewis after the Steelers’ failed lateral on the final play of the game. Meaning, he was fined a total of $20,462. That accounts for roughly 54-percent of his weekly game check, now issued on a 36-week basis.
The eye black fine wasn’t listed on the NFL’s weekly fine page but not every fine gets listed on there.
Pickens has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons this week. He was visibly frustrated throughout the game and showed a lack of effort on tape, though the Steelers denied his lack of playing time had anything to do with either. In a brief and terse media interview Thursday, Pickens said he wasn’t aware his eye black was a league violation.
The NFL disallows players to write any personal messages on their eye black so Pickens’ F-bomb for a nationally televised game certainly wasn’t going to fly. Years ago, DL Cam Heyward was fined for writing “Iron Head” on his eye black to honor his late father Craig “Ironhead” Heyward after passing away from a battle with cancer.
For the year, Pickens has caught 23 passes for 310 yards and zero touchdowns. He will look for a bounce back performance Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. And look to keep all the money in his pocket this time around.
