The replacement officials have shuffled off the stage until Keanu Reeves makes a movie about them, but some housekeeping from their time in charge of the NFL’s games still lingers.
Ed Werder of ESPN.com reports that Broncos coach John Fox has filed the necessary paperwork to appeal the $30,000 fine he received for berating officials during the team’s Week Two loss to the Broncos on Monday night. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio is also expected to appeal the $25,000 fine he received for his behavior during the same game.
“It’s not like one freaked-out coach went nuts and there hasn’t been another problem in the NFL,” Werder’s source said. “This could have turned into 20 fines a week with coaches because they were all losing their minds.”
According to Jeff Darlington of NFL.com, Fox is arguing that extenuating circumstances contributed to his behavior. The report indicates that Fox believes that the added strain of the responsibility for explaining the rules to the officials charged with enforcing them contributed to his sideline meltdown. Given how hard the NFL worked to make sure that no team officials or coaches publicly went after the replacements, we’re not sure that dog’s going to hunt even if it must have been endlessly frustrating for the league’s coaches to feel they needed to tell the guys in the striped shirts about the duties usually taken care of by the guys in striped shirts.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks on the fine front for the Broncos. Linebacker Joe Mays was fined $50,000 and suspended one game for a hit to the head of Texans quarterback Matt Schaub while linebacker Von Miller has been hit with a $15,750 fine for “unnecessarily driving” Schaub to the ground on the play before Mays walloped him. Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports that Miller plans to join his coaches in appealing the league’s decision.