NFL rescinds $25,000 fine for former Alabama All-American

Posted by author February 20, 2025 NFL

NFL rescinds ,000 fine for former Alabama All-American

The NFL has rescinded a $25,000 fine levied against Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. for remarks made by the former Alabama All-American after a 23-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round of the AFC playoffs on Jan. 18.

“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” Anderson told reporters in the locker room after the contest. “I talked to you guys earlier this week, and I was just telling them we got to go out there and do what’s better. In some instances, we didn’t do that. In some instances, we did.”

Anderson appealed the fine to a hearing officer designated by the NFL and the NFL Players Association in a process prescribed by Article 46 of the league’s collective bargaining agreement with its players association, and the penalty was rescinded this week, according to reports from ESPN, KPRC-TV in Houston and the Athletic.

During the Texans’ loss to Kansas City, two penalties against Houston were widely panned by media observers and were singled out for responses from referee Clay Martin by a pool reporter. The next day, Walt Anderson, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating who still works for the league as a rules analyst, was on NFL Network explaining the calls.

One of the calls causing the response was a roughing-the-passer penalty against Will Anderson Jr. on an incomplete pass by Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes on a third-and-8 snap at the Chiefs 33-yard line. Kansas City capitalized on the 15 yards and first down by completing the series with a field goal for a 6-3 lead with 3:59 left in the first quarter.

Anderson has maintained he hit Mahomes in the chest. Martin threw the flag while standing behind Mahomes.

“I had forcible contact to the face-mask area,” Martin told Pro Football Writers of America pool reporter Aaron Wilson after the game, “so I went with roughing the passer on that play.”

The Chiefs took a 20-12 lead with 11:52 to play on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce. The scoring drive was aided by an unnecessary-roughness penalty against former Alabama linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, who was flagged as Mahomes scrambled on a first-and-10 snap at the Kansas City 35-yard line.

Although video replay appeared to show To’oTo’o had, at worst, grazed Mahomes, the penalty gave the Chiefs a first down at the Houston 46.

“It is what it is,” To’oTo’o said after the game. “They’re going to call it. It’s whatever.”

“(Mahomes) slid, obviously,” Martin told the pool reporter. “And when he slides, he is considered defenseless. The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.”

Roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness are penalties that typically result in fines for the offending player. But the NFL did not fine Anderson or To’oTo’o for those infractions.

The only two-time unanimous All-American selection in Alabama history, Anderson joined the Texans as the third pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Anderson won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year awards presented by The Associated Press and the Pro Football Writers of America, then increased his first-year sack total by four to 11 in the 2024 season. He had 3.5 more sacks in two postseason games, including two against Kansas City.

“The type of player that I am, like, after the play, I didn’t go to the ref,” Anderson told reporters in the Texans’ locker room two days after the game. “I didn’t do none of that. I kept playing, and I had a really great game. I didn’t let that affect me. I didn’t let that affect how I played. Me and (Houston coach) DeMeco (Ryans) talked, and I moved on. I’m not the type to chase calls. The NFL can do whatever they need to do. I feel as a player you just have to keep playing. No matter what you say in an interview, that’s your opinion. You know what I’m saying? Some calls were, in my opinion, could have been better calls, and that’s OK. That’s my opinion.

“But at the end of the day, it’s about us. We have to do a better job of executing, we have to do a better job of going out there and being ready, and no matter what the outcome is we have to do a better job of handling Texans’ business on both sides of the ball.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.