If you thought Justin Tuck got screwed out of $7,500 earlier this week, you weren't the only one. The indefatigable Michael David Smith (via The Star-Ledger) is reporting on PFT that that bullshit fine levied on Tuck for his hit on Brooks Bollinger has been rescinded. You better pull up your socks for this: according to the report, NFL Fuhrer Roger Goodell allegedly watched the hit yesterday for the very first time and decided the fine was too harsh. Uh huh.
According to a high-ranking league official, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had not even seen the play until today. He immediately told Anderson the fine was too harsh. Giants coach Tom Coughlin has defended Tuck throughout the week so both he and his best defensive player should feel quite vindicated [until next week, when they get fucked out of another three-and-out with the next ticky-tack flag —Ed]. [...] "The officials are instructed to err on the side of safety," the NFL official said. "Therefore, we support the call on the field. However, as you know, most penalties do not require a fine. A fine was not justified."
Hadn't even seen the play? I call bullshit. Abraham Lincoln could be forgiven for not having seen the play, but this? This was damage control, pure and simple. The increase of questionable flags involving quarterback hits are already out of hand this season, and taking money out of a player's pocket for that same thing was just another step toward insanity. Goodell, for all of his fascist, well-intended policies of making the NFL a safer sport for domesticated white people to enjoy, saw the writing on the wall. The perception of America's game becoming a two-handed touch league is bad for business. Goodell canceling Tuck's fine is, it's fair to say, an acknowledgment of that perception. Now if Tuck could just get that 15 yards back from the personal foul call, all would be right with the world.