Falcons safety Damontae Kazee has apologized for his hit on Cam Newton on Sunday, and the NFL is trying to make him a little sorrier.
Kazee was fined $10,026 by the NFL for the hit, which also drew an ejection.
That $10,026 fine is the standard for a first-offense unnecessary roughness penalty, but Kazee is lucky he didn’t get worse. Newton was in a feet-first slide when Kazee hit him in the head. That easily could have drawn a suspension, which would have cost him a game check, which at his salary is $32,647.
This was the second high-profile penalty drawn by Kazee in the last month. In the preseason, Kazee caused Jaguars wide receiver Marqise Lee to suffer a serious knee injury when Kazee lowered his helmet into Lee’s knee. Kazee was flagged for that hit but not fined.