Many Pittsburgh Steelers players were victims of fines dished out by the NFL in 2023, most notably, Kwon Alexander and Jaylen Warren. Neither player was being paid a lot, so the fines they were receiving took a significant toll on their livelihood. Both were fined multiple times for using their helmet. For Warren, it was when he was a ballcarrier and for Alexander, it was while making tackles. Fines have always existed in the NFL, but recently, they have become more of an issue as they are becoming more common and players that aren’t being paid a ton are being fined the same amount as superstars with huge contracts.
Cam Heyward himself has been fined twice throughout his career, once was a reasonable fine for verbally berating an official during the 2014 season, and another was a time when the NFL was being insensitive and unreasonable. Heyward’s father, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward passed away from cancer in 2006, and he was a fullback in the NFL for 11 seasons. Heyward was honoring his father by writing his nickname on his eye black patches during games which he was eventually fined for. Heyward spoke about this on his podcast, Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, where he shamed the NFL for fining him for honoring his father.
“The eye black, that took on a mind of it’s own. I was kind of in a ‘sc**w you’ type of thing, you know. My dad played in the league for all these years and I’m honoring him, why does it really matter that much? My dad died from a brain tumor, but you guys continue to just keep marketing everything else, you know, I have a problem with it.”
The NFL wound up fining Heyward $5,787 for wearing his eye black in a way to honor his father. It’s not about the amount of money he was fined, it’s the idea that he was fined at all for honoring his father, who also played in the league for over a decade and made a Pro Bowl in 1995. The NFL has a very strict uniform policy, and players are fined all the time for the way they wear their socks, or the colors of different accessories that they wear. However, honoring a former player seems like something that is different from deliberately violating uniform policies.
Steelers’ Cam Heyward Defends Teammates That Were Fined During 2023 Season
Warren was fined multiple times during the 2023 season for using his helmet while running with the football. Only one fine stuck following his appeals to the league. The fine was a total of $38,556, which is about $10,000 more than what Heyward has been fined in his 13-year career. Warren was an undrafted free agent the Steelers signed prior to the 2022 season, so he isn’t making the same amount of money as other NFL players.
Warren was making just $874,000 for the 2023 season, and his fine ate up just under five percent of his season salary. Heyward spoke on this and suggested the NFL introduce a new system for fines.
“The fines become public, and I feel bad for a guy like Jaylen Warren. The dude was, you know, what else is he supposed to do? He’s already a little dude, so like because guys are bigger than him, it’s going to look like he is using his head every time. I will say this, we have a lot of coaches and a lot of people are really ticked off with it because they think it is an injustice. There’s no way Jaylen Warren should be playing for free. It needs to be a percentage, rather than everyone being fined the same amount.”
The amount Warren was fined for using his helmet in an illegal way was nearly his entire game check, meaning he is playing that week and risking his body for next to nothing. Warren also was not flagged on the play he was fined for, so the NFL decided to step in after the fact to dish out a fine. If players are fined a percentage of their contract, rather than a flat rate, the issue of players playing for next to nothing after a fine would no longer exist.
