Packers RB Aaron Jones was fined five figures for waving goodbye to Cowboys player
The NFL has put on a show of trying to help its players manage their money, like a finance boot camp or giving out financial advice at the rookie symposium.
The league might want to pitch in by not taking money from its players in five-figure increments for benign acts, under the guise of its fine system.
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Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones was running in for a touchdown last week against the Dallas Cowboys, one of the four he scored. He turned and waved goodbye to cornerback Byron Jones before he crossed the goal line. We can talk about whether that was the most sportsmanlike act, but nobody was hurt. If that was a big deal to you, you’re wound way too tight.
And the NFL still fined Jones more than $10,000 for waving goodbye at an opponent. Let’s repeat that: They took $10,000 from a player for ... waving.
Packers’ Aaron Jones gets a fine for waving
The exact fine was $10,527, according to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky. That’s pretty ridiculous.
“I can't say it's worth it, but it's a dope picture,” Jones told Demovsky. “I'm going to have that blown up.”
At least he can keep his humor about having to give over $10,527 for practically nothing. Jones told Demovsky he wasn’t fined for throwing another touchdown ball to his brother in the stands. Quite kind of the NFL. We’ve become so accustomed to large player salaries and the long list of ridiculous NFL fines every week that it just goes unnoticed that these fines are a ton of money.
Hopefully Jones goes on to a long career and makes millions of dollars. But as we’ve heard time and again, running back careers can be short. There are probably some good things Jones could have done with that $10,527 the NFL took from him over nothing.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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