Broncos linebacker Von Miller attracted plenty of attention for his stellar play on Sunday against the Panthers. He also attracted the attention of the league office.
Miller has been fined $21,000 for a low hit on quarterback Cam Newton, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post.
Defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson also was fined $15,000 for applying a horse collar tackle to Newton.
The 2011 defensive rookie of the year doesn’t believe he broke the rules when making contact with with 2011 offensive rookie of the year below the knee. “How am I supposed to know if he threw the ball or not?” Miller said. “I was down on the ground — actually the guard facemasked me and threw me into the quarterback. I’m supposed to what? Stand straight up and continue with the tackle?”
The play, available on the NFL.com Game Rewind service, shows that Miller wasn’t thrown or blocked into Newton’s lower leg. Instead, Miller was knocked low and stayed low as he pursued Newton and hit him below the knee.
Also, the question of whether Newton had thrown the ball is irrelevant. A quarterback in the pocket can’t be hit above the shoulders or at or below the knees, regardless of whether he has the ball in his hands or not.
