Lions guard Stephen Peterman was called for two chop blocks in the team’s loss to the Jets, and a few days later he received a letter informing him that the NFL would fine him $10,000. But now he doesn’t have to pay up.
Tom Kowalski of MLive.com reports, as we mentioned in today’s one-liners, that after reviewing the film, the league told Peterman he did not commit a chop block on either play and will not be fined.
In other words, the chop block penalties were real, but the officials’ reasoning for calling them was not correct. Peterman’s fine was real, but it is not real in the sense that it will not really be taken out of Peterman’s real paycheck.
The two penalties didn’t much hurt the Lions; one was declined and the other came on a drive when the Lions ended up scoring a touchdown anyway. Still, it’s hard to understand why Peterman was flagged, and why he was initially fined, even though the explanation the referee gave for flagging Peterman never made sense in the first place.