News: Barry Church fined for throwing football into stands

[WoodysGirl]

IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys safety Barry Church got caught up in the emotion of his first NFL touchdown last week and it cost him.

Church was fined $5,250 for throwing the football into the stands after his 27-yard fumble return for a score in the third quarter of the Cowboys’ 36-31 win against the New York Giants.

“I didn’t know it was that much,” Church said. “I thought it was maybe $1,700 or something like that. Yeah, they got me. It’ll never happen again.”

More: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4714808/barry-churchs-wallet-takes-hit-for-td

 

[speedkilz88]

He also cost himself a trophy ball or something he could have donated.

 

[Frozen700]

5k for throwing a football into the stands. Come on.

Charge him for the football, and sit him down for a talk. If it's that serious.

 

[Hook'em#11]

Did he rip it into the stands? Or, just lob it up to a fan?

No Friendly League continues on. Get that money!!!!

 

[Eric_Boyer]

still waiting to see what Kiwanuka was fined for the helmet to the ribs

 

[Idgit]

I don't understand why this is even finable.

 

[Phrozen Phil]

5k for throwing a football into the stands. Come on.

Charge him for the football, and sit him down for a talk. If it's that serious.

Utterly ridiculous. It's apparent that connecting with the fans is only in acceptable ways like the lamebeau leap or any other activity that isn't done involving the Cowboys.

 

[Nation]

As dumb as it sounds, I don't have a ton of sympathy here. I mean he says in his quote that he knew he wasn't supposed to do it and that he'd be fined for it.

 

[arglebargle]

Could be worse....he could've gotten a fine for wearing his socks wrong!

 

[Bull Frog]

You can only throw yourself into the stands.

 

[Deep_South]

Is there a fine if a player just hands the ball to a fan rather than throwing it into the stands?

I should add one of the announcers during the game said the fine was for the potential liability of throwing the ball into the stands. Don't know if that's true or not.

 

[Frozen700]

Utterly ridiculous. It's apparent that connecting with the fans is only in acceptable ways like the lamebeau leap or any other activity that isn't done involving the Cowboys.

Seriously!

 

[Frozen700]

As dumb as it sounds, I don't have a ton of sympathy here. I mean he says in his quote that he knew he wasn't supposed to do it and that he'd be fined for it.

That's not how I took it at all

 

[WoodysGirl]

As dumb as it sounds, I don't have a ton of sympathy here. I mean he says in his quote that he knew he wasn't supposed to do it and that he'd be fined for it.

per the article:

“I wasn’t even thinking at the time,” Church said. “I was like, ‘Man, what am I going to do next?’ I was a like, ‘Aaaaaaah,’ and just threw it in the stands. But it won’t happen again.”

Diff article:
David Moore ‏@DavidMooreDMN 7m
Cowboys S Barry Church calls NFL fine, "the most expensive ball toss I've ever done in my life.'' More on http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***...sive-ball-toss-ive-ever-done-in-my-life.html/

“Parking tickets, other tickets, all of them together don’t even come close to what they fined me for doing that,” Church said. “I knew I was going to get fined after the fact. Everyone told me. But when I found out how much, I was like, ‘dang, they’re going to take all that from me when a fan just caught a ball and it made his day?’

 

[JPM]

You can only throw yourself into the stands.

and only in Green Bay.

 

[WoodysGirl]

and only in Green Bay.

That's not true...that it's only in Green Bay.

 

[Deep_South]

From Wikipedia:

Simply spiking the ball is not considered "excessive celebration", but deliberately spiking it in front of a defender is. Jumping onto the outer wall to accept contact from fans, such as the Lambeau Leap, is also not considered such, as it is off the field of play.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchdown_celebration

 

[Doomsay]

still waiting to see what Kiwanuka was fined for the helmet to the ribs

Yeah, why that wasn't called immediately is beyond me.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

I must be really old. I remember when it used to be $300. I think even before that it was just to cover the cost of the football.

I had no idea it was $5K. It would be nice if the whole team or the defense chipped in and covered the fine for Church. 53 Players at $100/each would cover the fine.

 

[elcowboi]

The NFL just paid all this money to people no longer playing the game. I bet this year there are more fines than any year before. I bet they hit a ridiculous amount in league fines this year.