Though 49ers safety Dashon Goldson’s boss thought it was a legal hit, the NFL disagreed, and fined Goldson $21,000 for his hit on Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.
He was penalized for the hit during the game, but said he wasn’t going to let the league’s enforced charitable donation change his style of play.
“Hits like that definitely draw attention for the simple fact of what they’re trying to accomplish in this league with helmet-to-helmet [hits] and the safety of players or whatever they want to call it,” Goldson said, via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “That’s going to definitely raise a flag every time you go in there for a tackle. But like I said, as football players we can’t think about that.”
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Thursday the hit was perfectly clean because Goldson wrapped as he hit.
“He hit him right here in the chest area,” Fangio said. “I think what’s happened is if it looks bad, the league has told the officials to err on the side of caution. . . .
“A lot of times if they don’t see it all and it’s a bang-bang play — it’s a hard play for them to see sometimes — they’re going to err on the side of safety and throw the flag.”
Goldson added the fine letter to a growing pile. He said he planned to appeal, and that many of his big hits that drew penalties this year did not result in fines. In fact, his biggest deductions have come for uniform violations for the length of his socks, as he estimated he’s accumulated $70,000 worth of those.
Whether he’s a dirty player or not, $70,000 worth of sock fines is ridiculous, and a poor investment on Goldson’s part.