Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was outraged after the NFL fined him for faking an injury, and it appears that the NFL’s appeals process has vindicated him.
Jordan won the appeal of the $50,000 fine the NFL gave him, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
The incident took place during the Saints’ loss to the Buccaneers in December. With the Bucs initially seeming to hurry to line up to go for it on a fourth down, Jordan went down to the ground and got an injury timeout. After that, the Buccaneers punted, and the league office thought Jordan had faked the injury so that the Saints’ defense could get ready if the Bucs went for it on fourth down.
Jordan’s position coach, Ryan Nielsen, also was fined $50,000, Saints head coach Dennis Allen was fined $100,000, and the Saints as a franchise was fined $350,000. It’s unclear whether those fines remain in place; the appeals process for players is separate from the process for coaches and teams.
The NFL has legitimate reasons to want to crack down on fake injuries, which players do sometimes use to their teams’ advantage. But in this case, Jordan fought back and won.