When Bears safety Ryan Mundy applied a helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons wideout Roddy White, White may or may not have called Mundy an “asswhole.” The league responded with actions, not words.
A league source has confirmed that the NFL has fined Mundy $22,050 for the illegal hit on White. The fine was first reported by Ed Werder of ESPN.
Mundy said Wednesday that he learned of the fine via texts and Twitter, and not directly from the league. Via Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com, Mundy will appeal the fine.
The play initially drew a penalty. Officials then decided that it wasn’t a violation, claiming it the contact was made with the shoulder.
FOX’s Mike Pereira praised the move at the time.
“I really like it because to me because . . . [Mundy] turns his head to the side and makes shoulder-to-shoulder contact,” Mundy said. “There’s some incidental helmet contact but, to me, force of the blow, turning your head, really goes to the shoulder. I think these are tough, but I think too many times they’ve called them incorrectly.”
Still, it’s clear there was helmet-to-helmet contact. To the league office, it doesn’t matter if it was incidental. On appeal, that could be the difference.