Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown fined $43,000 for seemingly normal play

DETROIT – Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was fined more than $43,000 for a specific play even though it doesn’t look like he did anything out of the ordinary.

The fine stems from a play against the Chicago Bears last weekend, according to Tom Pelissero. Jared Goff handed the ball to David Montgomery, who ran for a nice gain. St. Brown was lined up out wide and blocked defensive back Jaquan Brisker about seven yards downfield.

“The league has been cracking down on lowering the head to initiate contact,” Pelissero tweeted.

St. Brown leaned forward with his head, and there appeared to be some contact with Brisker’s helmet. Brisker’s head snapped back and he stiff-armed St. Brown before getting in on the tackle.

You can see video of the play below. It was apparently enough to cost St. Brown $43,709.

“Almost 5% of my salary,” St. Brown tweeted. “I’m hurting.”

Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt does not agree with the fine.

“Here we go again,” Watt tweeted. “General rule of thumb: If you have to watch the video multiple times to try figuring out which person did something wrong and you still can’t figure it out, we probably shouldn’t be taking $43,709 from someone. This. Is. Stealing. Money.”