GREEN BAY, Wis. -- One Friday afternoon this past season, Jake Ryan sat in the hallway outside the Packers' locker room and was on the phone trying to get some of his money back.
No, the third-year linebacker wasn’t hoping Best Buy would match the newly advertised sale price on a TV he bought at full price.
Ryan was on the phone with the NFL appealing the $18,231 fine that was taken out of his weekly paycheck for his horse-collar tackle of Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon.
A couple of weeks later, Ryan proudly reported that his fine was cut in half.
Ryan’s fine was one of at least 10 handed out to Packers players during the 2017 season. Those 10 fines totaled $145,847 before appeals.
During the 2016 campaign, the Packers' fines totaled more than $185,000, including playoffs, before appeals. That was a significant increase from the 2015 season, when only four Packers were fined approximately $52,000.
Player fines go to charitable causes through the NFL Player Care Foundation.
At least one Packers player, linebacker Ahmad Brooks, told USA Today recently that he does not think the NFL should “be able to take as much money as they do for guys going out there and doing their job. Football is a violent sport. Things happen.”
There could have been other fines, but the league does not openly announce them; it only confirms specific requests for fine information.
Here’s a list of fines for Packers players that were confirmed this past season.
Martellus Bennett: $9,115 for unnecessary roughness vs. Seattle, Week 1
Marwin Evans: $9,115 for facemask vs. Cincinnati, Week 3
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix: $24,309 for unnecessary roughness (hit to the head to WR Joshua Bellamy) vs. Chicago, Week 4
Damarious Randall: $9,115 for unsportsmanlike conduct vs. Dallas, Week 5
Davante Adams: $6,076 for throwing the ball into the crowd vs. Dallas, Week 5
Ryan: $18,231 for horse-collar tackle on McKinnon vs. Minnesota, Week 6
Kentrell Brice: $18,231 for horse-collar tackle on Mark Ingram vs. New Orleans, Week 7
Mike Daniels: $9,115 for unnecessary roughness vs. Lions, Week 9
Dean Lowry: $18,231 for roughing the passer vs. Ravens, Week 11
Richard Rodgers: $24,309 for helmet block on Sean Davis vs. Steelers, Week 12
