The NFL handed out unusually hefty fines to a trio of head coaches when it docked the Patriots’ Mike Vrabel, the Eagles’ Nick Sirianni, and the Jets’ Aaron Glenn $250,000 each for their conduct toward game officials, in the latest example of the league’s strict enforcement of its sportsmanship-related rules.
But the coaches won’t necessarily have to pay those amounts. The fines are on hold and can be repealed in each case if there are no further violations by that coach.
The fines and the possibility of them being overturned were confirmed to Front Office Sports by three sources familiar with the situation. The fines are not records for coaches, but they are large.
Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 by the NFL in 2007 while with the Patriots in the “Spygate” scandal. Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was fined $100,000 in 2013 for interfering with a kickoff return during a game against the Ravens.
Brian Daboll, while with the Giants, was fined $100,000 last year for conduct detrimental to the league related to the team’s violations of the concussion protocol while quarterback Jaxson Dart was being evaluated during a game.
Several coaches were fined $100,000 each in 2020 for violations of the NFL’s health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic related to game-day sideline masking requirements. That included the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan; Sean Payton, then with the Saints; Jon Gruden, then with the Raiders; Pete Carroll, then with the Seahawks; and Vic Fangio, then with the Broncos.
Payton also was suspended for the entire 2012 season in the “Bountygate” scandal involving the Saints.
Coaches on Notice
It has not been specified what prompted the fines in the cases of Vrabel, Sirianni, and Glenn. Vrabel was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct during an Oct. 4 game against the Bills in which he cursed at an official while arguing a call from the sideline.
“I told him it was a terrible—I’m not gonna say—f’ing call,” Vrabel said during his postgame news conference that day. “I’ve said that 87 times since I’ve been a head coach. It was nothing derogatory. You know, you’d have to ask him. I think he was a little sensitive. … I probably shouldn’t have swore. But I can tell you that in my history of being on the sidelines as a head coach, I’ve said that. And I apologized to him. … It was unfortunate, and I have to be better in those moments.”
Vrabel, who is a member of the NFL competition committee, alluded to the fine following the Patriots’ loss Thursday night at Chicago.
“I’m not in very good favor with the officiating department, so I probably shouldn’t say anything,” Vrabel said during his postgame news conference when asked about a call during that game.
Sirianni said at a news conference Thursday: “I won’t get into my conversations with the league. I try to keep everything … as far as my conversations with players in-house. … Same with conversations with the league. Same with conversations with the Referees Association. So I’ll just keep that at that.”
Glenn took a similar approach Friday.
“I will keep that between me and the NFL and the refs,” he said at a news conference.
Glenn was asked Friday whether he needs to change anything in his interactions with the officials during games.
“I don’t think that’s ever been a problem at all,” he said. “Listen, I understand how the league works, and I am fully behind how the league operates. And I don’t think any coach within this league has, like, any issues with the refs. We know it’s a tough game. And, listen, to make those split-second calls at that time, it’s tough. So we support the refs. We support what the league’s doing. And, again, I’ll keep those things between me, the refs, and the NFL.’’
Cracking Down
FOS reported in August that the NFL, at the behest of the competition committee, would continue to enforce its sportsmanship-related rules strictly this season. That has played out in several ways.
In addition to the fines of Vrabel, Sirianni and Glenn, the NFL doled out 22 fines totaling $300,089 to 13 different players for unsportsmanlike conduct violations in the Week 2 games. Of those 22 fines, 13 were for illegal celebrations and vulgar acts, five for obscene gestures, and four for taunting.
Earlier this month, the NFL and the NFL Players Association announced jointly that fake-chugging celebrations no longer would be violations and that the league will first contact a player to “provide direction before imposing discipline” for conduct that “falls into a gray area.”
“We just had a lot of stuff,” Troy Vincent, the NFL’s EVP of football operations, said during this week’s owners meeting in New York. “We need to be more clear of what we were doing from an officiating [standpoint] and internally from [the league] office on celebrations. … Just getting clarity on what the players could expect, what we should expect from them. But I think it went outside of … just the player celebration. You saw the coach to the official, the official to the player. We’ve got to hold the line in that area.”
The NFL suspended two of its game officials, line judge Jeff Seeman and referee Adrian Hill, this month for on-field incidents involving players during games. The NFL Referees Association is contesting those suspensions via a grievance.
“I think all are responsible for some level of dignity, respect, and professionalism,” Vincent said. “We all owe that to each other. We owe it to the game. … We haven’t had any instances, really, since Week 4, since we had complete clarity to the players, to the coaches, and to the officials. We suspended two officials during that time period. So there was accountability measures for all—players, coaches, as well as officials.”
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