Colts defensive end Cory Redding picked up a costly unnecessary roughness penalty for a hit on Packers running back Cedric Benson on Sunday, and he wasn’t happy about it. He’s not happy about it after being fined, either.
Redding has been fined $7,875 by the NFL for the hit, which the NFL said was an unnecessary strike to the helmet of an opponent. For his part, Redding said all he did was tap Benson on the helmet.
“I tried to pull up,” Redding said, via the Indianapolis Star. “His head was there and I tapped it a little bit.”
Redding’s hit on Benson came on the play when Benson suffered a Lisfranc injury, which will force him to miss at least eight weeks. However, Redding’s hit didn’t appear to have anything to do with Benson’s injury: Redding hit Benson on the helmet, and it appeared to be Moise Fokou’s shoestring tackle (which was clean and legal) that injured Benson’s foot.
Still, Redding is understating what he did by calling it a “tap.” Benson was already down when Redding took a shot directly at Benson’s head. It was unnecessary, and worthy of being fined.