NFL fines Bruce Irvin, Michael Bennett for fighting in Super Bowl
The fines for the Super Bowl XLIX fight have officially been handed down.
The NFL has fined Seattle’s Bruce Irvin and Michael Bennett, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport:
For the skirmish at the end of the Super Bowl, #Seahawks Bruce Irvin fined $10,000 & Michael Bennett $8,268 (unnecessarily struck opponents)
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 6, 2015
No Patriots players were fined for the incident, despite Rob Gronkowski’s Jimmy Kimmel appearance in which he said he just decided to “throw some haymakers.”
Irvin instigated the fighting, which occurred after a kneeldown in the final seconds of the Super Bowl, just after the Malcolm Butler goal-line interception sealed New England’s championship hopes unexpectedly. Irvin was ejected from the game.
“I was protecting a teammate,” Irvin said. “Emotions flew. I saw somebody hit Michael Bennett, so I went and backed up my brother. I went about it wrong. Emotions were flying high, and I apologize. But if it happened again, I would go protect my teammate.”
The Patriots’ Ryan Wendell was also involved in the fight, but was not fined.
Here’s the fight itself:
It was a rough way to end a Super Bowl, but one that perfectly embodied that Seahawks fighting spirit. The team went down swinging — literally — but it’s swagger that they’re having to pay for after the fact.
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