Last Sunday’s ugly incident between the Texans and Jaguars, sparked by the knockout blow applied to linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to a sliding Trevor Lawrence, should have resulted in a broad array of fines for the fight that broke out after the hit.
Ultimately, only Jaguars tight end Evan Engram was fined. Not even Al-Shaair — who per the league “escalated [the fight] when [he] pulled an opponent down to the ground by his facemask — was separately punished for his actions during what was a pair of altercations. (The list of Al-Shaair infractions over the past several years includes an unsportsmanlike conduct foul for last Sunday, but no fine.)
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the folks responsible for meting out punishment decided it wouldn’t be fair to impose fines for the aftermath of one specific incident. It was the hit and Engram’s shove of Al-Shaair that sparked everything.
On one hand, it makes sense. On the other hand, it’s arguably a mistake, because it sends a message to all teams.
Once a significant incident happens and the battle is joined, have at it!
Moreover, the outcome required conscious disregard of the rules and past precedent. It also sets a new precedent that will potentially become part of the appeals process moving forward. A player who is fined for a fracas that stems from some other incident can argue that, if it wasn’t fair to fine everyone who got involved in a pair of fights last Sunday, it’s not fair to fine them, either.
It was no surprise when Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was fined for his hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. It is a surprise that in the melee that followed, only one other player faced any league discipline.
The NFL announced today that it has fined Jaguars tight end Evan Engram $11,255 for unnecessary roughness. Engram decked Al-Shaair after Al-Shaair hit Lawrence.
But the lack of fines for anyone else is shocking. A huge melee broke out with players on both teams pushing and shoving, and Jaguars defensive back Jarrian Jones was ejected for throwing a punch. Yet no one except Engram was fined.
Al-Shaair got a three-game suspension for the hit, a significant punishment for a significant foul. The lack of significant punishments for the rest of the players involved in the fight after the play is a confusing decision by the league’s disciplinary department.
When the NFL announced its three-game suspension of Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, the league made general reference to his “multiple offenses for personal fouls and sportsmanship-related rules violations in recent seasons.”
With lingering criticism of an appeals process that lacked transparency — and that was tainted by an apparent conflict of interest — the full history of Al-Shaair’s on-field infractions is emerging, unofficially.
PFT has obtained the full list. There are 13, dating back to 2020. Only seven of them resulted in fines.
Three happened this year. First, Al-Shaair engaged in a Week 2 sideline fight against the Bears. He was fined $11,817, and it was not appealed. Second, he hit Titans running back Tony Pollard out of bounds in Week 12. The $11,255 fine is pending. Another one happened during the Jaguars game on Sunday. Al-Shaair was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, but not fined. (At least not yet.)
During the 2023 season, Al-Shaair was fined $13,934 for a blow to the head/neck of a quarterback. He also was fined $10,927 for a face mask foul.
During the 2022 season, Al-Shaair was fined $11,139 for fighting. (It was reduced on appeal to $8,911.)
During the 2021 season, Al-Shaair was disciplined, without an actual fine imposed, for four instances of illegal use of the helmet. On one occasion, he was fined $41,200 for use of helmet. (It was affirmed on appeal.)
During the 2020 season, Al-Shaair was disciplined once for use of helmet, without a fine. On another occasion that year, he was fined $4,000 for use of helmet. (The fine was reduced to $3,200 on appeal.)
As to the seven instances on which Al-Shaair was disciplined for use of helmet, he was fined only twice. The lack of fines hints at a broader effort by the league, during that time period, to aggressively enforce the rule against lowering the helmet and making forcible contact with an opponent. Common sense suggests that, if Al-Shaair was the only one doing it, he would have been fined more than two out of seven times.
Common sense also suggests that the league is reeling a bit from the blowback to the Al-Shaair suspension, both from the Texans and elsewhere. But it’s deserved. Instead of simply focusing on the blatantly illegal hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the league has tried to paint Al-Shaair as a villain.
Why not just suspend him for the hit, without a P.R. effort aimed at making him look worse? The hit speaks for itself. Late slide or not, Al-Shaair came in hot with a forearm to the head of Lawrence. Al-Shaair could have tried to avoid Lawrence. Instead, Al-Shaair embraced the opportunity to make a Bednarik-style hit.
That should be enough for the suspension. The rest of it is just noise. And now there’s more noise, in the form of a history of discipline that looks a lot worse on the surface than it probably is — especially if the 2021 discipline (without fines) points to a broader philosophical issue as to when and how to punish players for hits that are inherent to playing football.
The NFL’s in-house justice system regarding punishment for on-field infractions lacks transparency. Except when the NFL wants transparency.
The information released by the league regarding the three-game suspension of Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair operated like a flying elbow from the top rope, painting him as a villain and citing multiple different grounds for the punishment — his history, the hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Al-Shaair’s actions during the first fight after the play, and his actions during the second fight, after he was ejected.
As to the hearing conducted by former NFL offensive lineman Ramon Foster, there has been no transparency. By all appearances, there was nothing more than an up or down from Foster, with no reasoning or explanation.
Appearing on his radio show aired by 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, Foster declined to explain the basis for his decision.
“My job is to see the tape, evaluate the tape, and move on to how I proceed to evaluate the cases,” Foster said, via Cody Stoots. “There is no emotion or involvements that goes on behind it.”
It would be nice to have something more than that. One of the goals of punishment is deterrence. How can a player be deterred if there’s no clarity as to the connection between the conduct, the punishment, and the decision on appeal?
“Don’t do what Al-Shaair did” isn’t enough. Players have a right to know the line between what will and won’t get them suspended.
Foster also downplayed the fact that he’s employed by the Titans Radio Network, as the game day sideline reporter. On that point, Foster mentioned that Derrick Brooks, one of the other hearing officers, works for the Buccaneers. (According to the Buccaneers, Brooks has no formal role with the team; he’s treated like any other “alumni legend.”)
“This was not an issue,” an NFL spokesperson told PFT via email regarding Foster’s employment by the Titans Radio Network. “The four appeals officers, all former players, are jointly considered, selected and compensated by the NFLPA and the league.”
It should be an issue. While, as Foster said, the NFL and NFL Players Association want former players in the role of hearing officer, there are many former players who don’t work directly or indirectly for teams.
Anyone charged with resolving matters that entail the exercise of discretion should avoid not only impropriety but the appearance of it. The Titans and Texans are AFC South rivals. Someone who works for the Titans Radio Network shouldn’t be handling a disciplinary appeal regarding a player from the Texans. He shouldn’t want to.
But it’s part of the basic NFL reality. Conflicts of interest are everywhere, starting with the league’s obsession to have the Commissioner control and resolve any legal claims involving the teams, the league, and the Commissioner himself — and continuing with Tom Brady being allowed to own a team and serve as the top game analyst at Fox.
Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s just another day in post-standards paradise.
Texans tight end Brevin Jordan tore his ACL early in the season, but he has some clarity about his future.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Houston signed Jordan to a one-year contract extension on Thursday morning.
Jordan, 24, was a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft and as such was in the final year of his rookie contract. He will now be with the club for at least another season.
In 2023, Jordan caught 17 passes for 219 yards with two touchdowns in 14 games. He was on the field for 31 percent of offensive snaps and 25 percent of special teams snaps in games played.
Jordan has 53 career receptions for 532 yards with five touchdowns in 36 games.
