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Fine on Ochocinco Just Small Example of Leagues Stranglehold on Players

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“If you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.” –Charles Colson, chief counsel for Richard Nixon

During a 17-7 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco made a reception along the sideline that was later called upon for review. The Cincinnati Bengals Wide-out took the opportunity to playfully offer a referee a single dollar bill, jokingly in exchange for the call to be in favor of the Bengals.

The ref ignored Ochocinco. The call was made against the Bengals. The game continued without incident.

The following week, word came out that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fined Ochocinco $20,000. And the leagues tyrannical disrespect of its most important asset… the players… continues.

In defense of the fine, ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen argued “The integrity of the game is critical to us. (Ochocinco’s actions) will not be taken lightly.”

This would make plenty of sense, if there was a single person who truly, honestly believed that Ochocinco intended to bribe the officials. If there is only one person among the millions of NFL fans watching the game who believed Ochocinco’s bribery attempt was legitimate, then the leagues integrity was in question, and the fine was fully deserved.

Except that… there isn’t.