Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict was not suspended for two unnecessary roughness calls last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the embattled veteran was fined $112,000 by the NFL on Saturday.
Burfict committed the personal fouls on hits against receiver Antonio Brown and running back James Conner. The NFL did not break down how much Burfict was fined for each action.
The hit on Brown was particularly “nasty,” as Brown called it. Brown caught a pass over the middle and was tackled by two Bengals defenders when Burfict dived in with his right elbow, connecting with Brown’s upper body and head. Brown lay on the turf for a while before he was able to walk off the field and re-enter the game later.
Burfict, in his seventh season out of Arizona State, is the most fined player in the NFL paying $415,637. He has now been fined 11 times.
He has also been suspended six games, including a three-game ban after an illegal hit on Brown in a 2016 playoff game.
“He’s hurting his team,” Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert told reporters about Burfict. “It could have been a costly penalty right there. Who knows? He should be suspended for that hit. We’ll see. But he’s too good of a football player to be missing games like that.”
