It’s almost expensive to pay tribute to a deceased player whose record you’ve broken as it is to blatantly and deliberately and repeatedly violate COVID protocols.
Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones was fined $10,300 for lifting his jersey to display a T-shirt that paid tribute to the late Freddie Joe Nunn (pictured), after Jones broke Nunn’s franchise record for sacks on Sunday. In San Francisco, Jones picked up his 67th sack as a Cardinal, setting the new team record.
Nunn died October 16, at the age of 59. He’d held the franchise record for 29 years. Several members of Nunn’s family reached out to Jones after the game to let him know how much the gesture meant.
But, hey, uniform violations are uniform violations, as far as the NFL is concerned. (At least he wasn’t penalized for taunting.)
Earlier this week, the league ultimately fined Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers $14,650 for violating COVID protocols. The fine applied to one violation (attending the team’s Halloween party), even though he constantly and deliberately failed to wear a mask during indoor press conferences, in clear violation of the rules.
Thus, it cost only $4,350 less for Jones to honor Freddie Joe Nunn.