Former Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon secured a rare win over the NFL in the case of his appeal of a fine.
Mixon complained via social media in January that he had been fined by the NFL for something he never even said. The fine was for $25,000 and it was given to Mixon for criticizing the officials. The problem is the NFL screwed up when issuing the fine and cited something Mixon hadn’t even said. The NFL later tried to cover its tracks in a re-issued fine letter, but something still felt off since Mixon’s comments were not bad.
“Everybody know how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs’ hands. The whole world see, man,” Mixon said after his Houston Texans lost 23-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs on January 18.
The league had initially attributed some comments made by former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh on social media to Mixon. Mixon appealed his fine and won his case.
On Tuesday, a letter circulated via social media showing that the NFL had rescinded its fine to Mixon.
“During the appeal hearing, you stated what you meant by your statements referring to the officials. As you know, statements can be interpreted differently by every individual and it seems like you clearly understand the weight and detriment of public criticism towards officials can be, given how impactful your platform is as a player, which I appreciate,” NFL hearing officer Chris Palmer wrote.
“Integrity of the game and its officials is the responsibility of everyone involved in the NFL. After reviewing the totality of the evidence, I find that you did not necessarily publicly criticize the officials. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth above, the NFL will rescine the $25,000 fine amount.”
It feels like some measure of justice was served considering Mixon never should have been fined in the first place. We know that former Texans star JJ Watt will be happy about this outcome.
Mixon just finished his first season with Houston after spending seven with the Cincinnati Bengals. He had 1,016 rushing yards with 11 rushing touchdowns and 36 catches for 309 receiving yards. And now he’s free of the $25,000 fine.
