01 November 2023 , 20:53
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Former NFL star JJ Watt has slammed the league after Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren had his entire paycheck taken away.
Warren has been hit with two of the biggest fines in the NFL this season for dangerous play, but neither incident attracted a flag from the referees, and both times the second-year rusher has been defended by ex-pros. That has not stopped the NFL from fining him $39,000 and $48,333, however.
The first fine related to an incident where Warren lowered his head during a catch and run against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, while the second was for a block he made on Los Angeles Rams linebacker Michael Hoecht in Week 7. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Watt has blasted the league’s punishments of Warren.
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“This is literally stealing money from a guy,” he said on social media. ”I mean what are we doing here? I don’t care how much money you make, $48,556 is a LOT of money (it’s Jaylen Warren’s entire game check) and we’re taking it away from him for this? Really? This is horrendous.”
Watt appeared on The Pat McAfee show on Wednesday to expand on his argument. He said: “Any time you’ve got to watch the play 10 times to figure out which person is getting fined, I think you messed up. I posted that on Twitter and everyone was like ‘Which player is it? What a, I supposed to be looking at?’ If we’re having to do that, maybe we shouldn’t be taking the guy’s entire paycheck. He’s literally going out there and playing for free, two weeks in a row. What do you want him to do? It’s a 300-pound man.”
The NFL has raked in almost $14million in fines this season and Watt believes players are being punished too harshly. He also thinks the way rule changes in the name of safety have been policed is wrong.
JJ Watt has hit out the NFL's punishment of Jaylen Warren. (Pat McAfee Show)
Jaylen Warren of the Pittsburgh Steelers has received two of the biggest fines in the NFL this season. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)“We’re going to take this guy’s whole paycheck because he tried to block a 300-pounder and he tried to get lower and use his leverage? It’s great that flag football is in the Olympics and I love that sport, but we are literally headed in that direction as a league and if that’s what you want to be, fine, just say it, but I don’t love this middle ground we’re in right now,” the former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals star said.
“The fines are really upsetting me. He’s got a full game check taken away and then you’ve got to go through this appeals process and hope they give you half of it back. I think there have been more than nine or $10million in fines this year. It’s mind-boggling how much we’re taking away from these guys.”
Warren, who was an undrafted rookie in 2022 meaning he is one of the league’s lower earners, admits the fines have stung, but he says he will not change his style of play regardless. “I mean, it sucks because that’s so much money,” he said. “But I don’t let it alter my play. If… I don’t know if I should say this, but if I was in the same situation, I’m still doing what I’m going to do. It’s what got me on the team.”