Rams safety Blake Countess got off without a suspension for his brutal hit on 49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin on Sunday, but he did get steep fine.
The NFL fined Countess $48,620 for the hit.
It’s the second time in five weeks that Countess has been hit with a fine for knocking a defenseless receiver out of a game, having previously done it to Saints tight end Coby Fleener. This time his fine was doubled from last time.
Countess makes a base salary of $540,000, which comes out to $31,765 a week. That means Countess was actually fined more than he got paid for the 49ers game, which means he’ll be able to have that fine reduced on appeal. Big fines for lower-paid players are typically reduced to 25 percent of a game check for a first offense, and 50 percent of a game check for a subsequent offense. So Countess will likely be fined about $15,882, or 50 percent of his game check, after his appeal.
The big question is, Why wasn’t Countess suspended? His illegal hits have now given concussions to two players in five weeks. He’s lucky the NFL is letting him play in the Rams’ playoff game tomorrow night.
