Packers tight end Ryan Taylor found out during the team’s bye week that he had been fined $21,000 for an illegal block during Green Bay’s game against the Cardinals. He was not pleased.
In fact, Taylor said that when his agent informed him of the fine, it nearly killed him.
“Definitely not the way you want to start a vacation,” Taylor said, via ESPNWisconsin.com. “I almost had a heart attack. I was on the plane. It was definitely a surprise.”
Taylor said he’ll appeal the fine.
“Obviously we do not agree with the assessment that the league made of the play,” Taylor said. “So right now we’re in the appeals process and I have faith in the system and hopefully it’ll be overturned. Their interpretation of the rules is not how I read it. I definitely thought it was a clean block.”
Taylor added that even if he doesn’t win the appeal, he has no intention of doing anything differently: If he has another shot at another player like the shot he took at Arizona’s Rashad Johnson, he’ll take it again.
“I don’t think I can change the way I play. Because the guy had an angle on the ball, he would’ve made the tackle had I not blocked him,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to just stop blocking guys who can make tackles on our ballcarrier because of an arbitrary rule.”
Which means more fines may be coming for Taylor in the future. At least next time it won’t come as a total shock.