While the NFL was fining Marshawn Lynch $20,000 for grabbing his crotch in the NFC Championship Game, the NFL was also asking fans to pay $149.95 for a collection of Seahawks photos that included a picture of that same grab of that same crotch.
The league has now admitted it screwed up by offering that photo for sale and says it will not be sold.
“Any play that results in a fine may not be used commercially,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN.
This isn’t the first time the NFL has tried to profit off photos of plays for which players were fined. In 2010 the league also sold pictures of a James Harrison hit on Mohamed Massaquoi and a Brandon Meriweather hit on Todd Heap, even though Harrison and Meriweather had been fined for those very hits.
It’s hypocritical, obviously, of the NFL to do that. Maybe Lynch will have something to say about the NFL’s hypocrisy at Super Bowl Media Day. But probably not.
