San Francisco safety Donte Whitner was flagged for two personal fouls on Monday night, one for a hit on a defenseless receiver and one for unsportsmanlike conduct for yelling at the officials after that flag. The NFL apparently thought Whitner had a point when he was yelling at the officials because Whitner says he wasn’t fined for the hit.
In fact, Whitner says he hasn’t been fined for any of his personal foul penalties. The NFL did initially fine him $21,000 for a hit on Rams receiver Chris Givens this season, but he won the appeal, and he hasn’t picked up any other fines for any other hits.
“But if you look at every hit, that’s the way you should play football,” Whitner said, via CSNBayArea.com. “You lead with your shoulder. Just because it’s a powerful hit, doesn’t mean it’s an illegal hit. This is football. Now, if I’m going in there and hitting people in their helmet, and going helmet to helmet, that’s wrong and that should be flagged. But if you’re doing the right way and hitting them in the right area, it shouldn’t matter how powerful the hit is, it should not be a flag and it should not be penalized out of check for it. And I haven’t. I haven’t given up one dollar this year on five or six personal fouls.”
The only fine Whitner has paid this season was $7,875 for wearing white socks.