Packers safety Jerron McMillian picked up a $21,000 fine from the NFL for a hit on Giants tight end Martellus Bennett during last Sunday’s 38-10 Giants victory and he doesn’t believe that the punishment fits the crime.
McMillian doesn’t think there was any crime at all, although he was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the hit. He said the team’s coaches told him there wasn’t anything he could or should have done differently on the play and he’ll appeal the fine. McMillian also doesn’t think it was a coincidence that a member of the Packers received a fine from the league for the third straight week.
“I think (the NFL) has got a hit out on us. We’re trying to play a physical football game, and it calls to be physical in this game of football. Just to have rules and regulations on to how and to where to hit a player, it’s hard,” McMillian said, via Paul Imig of FoxSportsWisconsin.com. “You want to go all out, you want to leave everything on the field, but that’s a little bit of an aspect of the game they’re trying to take away. They’re trying to take it away.”
McMillian also said he thought that Bennett’s reaction to the hit helped draw the flag.
“I guess it’s for the well-being of whoever was down, because I guess he was crying and whatnot,” McMillian said. “I guess something was wrong with him, but it was a clean hit. I think they more so threw the flag because of his reaction instead of the actual contact.”
It’s not the first time that a member of the Packers has suggested that the NFL is taking a special interest in punishing them this season. It didn’t feel true then and it doesn’t feel true now.
One need only type “fine” into the search box on this page to see how many fines the league hands out in a week to every team and one need only type “appeal fine” to see how rarely players in the league, Packers and otherwise, agree with the league’s assessment. The Packers aren’t the only team in this boat, no matter how much McMillian believes there’s a “hit” out on them.