Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who openly aspires to be known as the dirtiest player in the league and who was described to us by a G.M. on Monday as an “absolute scumbag,” addressed on Monday the league’s decision to impose $25,000 fines on both Finnegan and Texans receiver Andre Johnson for their in-game Week 12 fracas.
Finnegan seems to believe that Johnson should have been suspended for punching a helmetless player in the head.
“As a respect issue, when your helmet comes off, the play is over,” Finnegan said on 104.5 The Zone, via Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. “Did I want it to escalate into that? Absolutely not. At a point he snapped and he started throwing blows. The only thing that upsets me . . . is if you reverse that and it’s me I have a game suspension.”
He’s right, but not because Finnegan would have hit a helmetless Johnson in the head, but because Finnegan already has committed numerous infractions.
That said, we agree with Finnegan’s reasoning as to what the rule should be.
“He got my helmet off and I got his. To me, that is the end of the play,” Finnegan said. “This is the NFL, not the NHL, and it is a higher standard. That’s the NHL, they fight and they get penalties for that. In the NFL that is unheard of. You do that and you are suspended, hands down. That is what I have been taught, that is what everyone knows.”
Again, that’s not the rule. It should be the rule. For now, not.