Arizona Cardinals safety Joey Blount will surely be having a meeting with an NFL appeals officer after being fined $16,883 for an alleged facemask infraction where there was no penalty called in last Sunday’s win over the Bears.
With 4:34 to play in the first quarter, Blount was the gunner on the outside left with Blake Gillikin punting. Blount was defended on the play by Bears cornerback Josh Blackwell and there was contact about four yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Blount got his hand high and appeared to make brief contact with Blackwell’s facemask, but there didn’t look to be any pull and Blount’s hand left the area quickly.
Fines are supposed to be adjusted based on a player’s salary and potentially the severity of the act. Blount’s fine is 30.9 percent of his $54,722 weekly salary ($985,000 for the season).
Even more odd is that Blount’s fine was significantly higher than four other players fined from Week 9 games:
- Broncos safety Devon Key: $4,417 ($795,000/$44,167 per game/10 percent)
- Saints linebacker Demario Davis: $11,255 ($1.3 million/$72,222 per game/15.6 percent)
- Giants defensive lineman D.J. Davidson: $5,904.06 ($985,000/$54,722 per game/10.8 percent)
- Jets tight end Kenny Yeboah: $7,964 ($1.055 million/$58,611 per game/13.6 percent)
Blount was also fined $5,472 for a facemask infraction that was penalized in Week 6 against Green Bay.
