So the fucker spits in another player’s face and they fine him $35K. Big fucking hairy deal. He made something like $10 million this year. That’d be like fining me $20. Sure I’d be unhappy about it, but it wouldn’t exactly break the bank. Why didn’t they suspend him? What are they afraid he’s going to do, write another autobiography blasting the league?
I will never understand why he’s able to get away with this shit.
They’re not so much afraid of TO as afraid of his fans.
You don’t ask Terrell “you and what army?” you ask “you and which army?”.*
answer: depends on which army goes best with his shoes that day.
The poll on ESPN.com says that a majority of people think the sentence wasn’t strict enough.
Just because someone makes a lot of money doesn’t mean losing thirty five thousand dollars for spitting doesn’t hurt. It wouldn’t be like fining you 20$, it would be like fining you 35k for spitting, which is pretty fucking harsh anyway you look at it. I don’t really pay much attention to the NFL or all the TO drama but i just don’t feel like thats being lenient at all. Does a suspension also mean they don’t get paid for that game? how much would that cost them if that was the case?
It’s called the Player’s Union, and they would be all over themselves grieving a suspension when there’s no precedent for suspending someone that’s done the same thing, and the owners, knowing they’d lose if if ever got arbitrated, would back down.
Sorry, that’s bullshit. Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins was suspended for two games last year for spitting.
$35K is to $10 million as $20 is to my salary. In other words, a slap on the wrist. That’s probably not the exact math, but I’m too lazy to do it right now.
Well, then that would be a mistake, as opposed to bullshit, wouldn’t it?
Its still 35 thousand dollars man, Bill Gates himself wouldn’t be happy about losing that much money even if he makes more than that every minute.
The only link I find so far says Taylor got fined, I don’t see a suspension there.
I’m still looking though, so back off on the Bullshit Award a few moments ok Lord?
I’ll stand here and await the “bullshit” retraction.
Okay, my bad. Taylor was ejected from the game, not suspended. The refs couldn’t eject Owens because they didn’t see it. I must’ve gotten Taylor’s suspension confused with something else he did.
In fact, Googling “suspensions”+NFL+Spitting only gives hits on Pacman whathisname from the Titans, and his suspension is unrelated to his spitting on a woman at a bar.
Unless someone’s got better Google Fu than me, I’ll back up to where the NFL hasn’t suspended anyone for spitting during a game.
They SHOULD, but I don’t see where they have yet.
Aaaand, on preview before I send, thanks LA, I spoke before I knew, but now I know. I owe you a beer if you promise no spitting. 
Fair enough, Bus Guy. I also spoke without being 100% sure. I’d take you up on the beer, but I’ve been told I tend to spray it when I intend to say it when I’m drunk.
It’s hardly a punishment if it doesn’t hurt. Taking $35k away from Terrell Owens doesn’t hurt him at all if he made $10 million this year.
I have never seen any athlete get fined an amount of money that would make a difference to him. Sometimes they’re suspended without pay, and if it’s a long suspension, that would make a difference. I suspect the players’ unions are a factor, and then there’s the fact that it doesn’t REALLY benefit the NFL to suspend a player - especially a star.
In an interesting counterpoint to this, the suspensions from Saturday’s Knicks-Nuggets fight have just come down , and while I’m not complaining, I think they’re surprisingly harsh.
It is in fact the most anyone in the NFL has ever been fined for spitting. Cosnidering they don’t have video evidence (from what I can gather) I don’t know if they could do much more.
The league set a bad precedent when they only fined Romanowski $7500 for spitting on JJ Stokes. Add in Taylor’s fine-only, and it would be hard for the league to justify a suspension after lax punishments like that.
Why would they need evidence if they already have an admission of guilt?
If you make $10M a year, then $35k cannot ‘hurt’. It is not like you are going to cancel your plans to buy a Dodge Viper and go with the Neon instead. Even if you are saving your money for retirement, it has to be a drop in the bucket.
And if you sweat a $35k loss when you are in that bracket, then how could you get through each day? Your investments must be jumping around that much daily. You’ve paid more tax on a new car than that. Heck, your income tax is, what, $3M a year itself? You’ve probably flushed that much money down on a good (or bad) night out on the town. Not to mention that there is no such thing as bad publicity and a $35k stunt will keep you in the media.
Hey, in the time it takes Bill Gates to say 35 thousand dollars, he makes 35 thousand dollars. Your absolutist theory of economics doesn’t interest me and I won’t subscribe to your newsletter.