Ryan Clark’s first fine for an illegal hit drew nothing but a remorseful nod from the Pittsburgh Steelers safety.
The second fine — this one for a violent collision with Baltimore Ravens tight end Ed Dickson on Sunday night — drew his wrath.
“This is the worst, period, point-blank,” Clark said.
The Ravens were driving late in the first half when quarterback Joe Flacco tried to hit Dickson running up the seam. Dickson got his hands on the ball before Clark smashed into him. Dickson wasn’t hurt on the play, though it appeared his face mask collided into the back of Clark’s helmet before the ball squirted free.
Clark was flagged for unnecessary roughness and the 15-yard penalty helped the Ravens end the half with a Billy Cundiff field goal on their way to a 23-20 victory.
The next day the league hit Clark with a $40,000 penalty for what Clark felt was a perfectly normal play and left him wondering if the NFL has gone too far in policing dangerous hits, particularly ones doled out by the defending AFC champions.
“There wasn’t anything malicious about it,” Clark said. “It wasn’t a spear. It wasn’t a forearm to the head. It wasn’t any of those things and to be fined $40,000 for that? To me it’s either targeting me as a single player or it’s targeting this team.”
The Steelers have been fined 13 times for more than $182,000 this season, with Clark’s latest the biggest of the bunch.
Coach Mike Tomlin notified Clark of the fine Monday. Clark said referees never offered him an explanation for the flag and he believed he would get a reprieve after league officials got a look at the tape.
“I was actually expecting to get a call back and say that it wasn’t wrong, because it wasn’t,” Clark said. “I did everything I was asked to do and (NFL commissioner Roger) Goodell and all those other guys, they sit in their office with their suits and make these decisions on what a split-second reaction by the player is and this time it’s wrong.”
