ASHBURN (Va.) — The NFL has been fined Washington Commanders Ron Rivera, the coach, was fined $100,000 for excessive contact during spring drills. The team was then stripped of two OTA practice days in 2023 by Dan Graziano at ESPN.
On June 1st and 8th, the NFL Players’ Association reviewed the practice video and informed the NFL Management Council that they felt the practices were in violation of the collective bargaining agreement’s prohibition against contact with live animals. After reviewing the video, the council agreed to these practices.
Martin Mayhew, Washington General Manager of the NFL, received a letter from them regarding the penalties. The letter stated that “there is no doubt” that a team would do this to gain competitive advantage.
The Commanders finished their spring workouts on Thursday and declined to comment.
According to the letter Washington’s intensity and tempo in Club’s inner line play and pass coverage during the 11-on-11 drills, was at a level that players were clearly engaged and involved in physical contests. It said that there was excessive contact between players on more than one play, which led to players being sent to the ground.
The letter noted that “in some cases”, “players were slow in recovering after these collisions.”
Rivera was asked to intervene if practices become too physical, remind players of rules, and exercise “appropriate control” over practice.
Washington safety on June 8, 2008 Jeremy Reaves Receiver crashed into the crash Dyami Brown Both went after the ball. Reaves later claimed that he didn’t see Brown due to traffic jams, otherwise he would have pulled over. Brown was escorted to the facility after the play. He remained on the ground and walked slowly towards the sidelines. Rivera stopped practice, yelled at his team to be smarter and more disciplined, and abruptly ended the full-team session.
Later, he stated that Brown had suffered from a sore right shoulder. Brown attended their three-day mandatory minicamp one week later.
Rivera said that they had to work together and be careful after the collision. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt. To make sure that the guys understand why we do things in a certain way, I have a certain discipline. We don’t want guys getting hurt.
“I love the way they practice, how hard they practice, and their competitiveness every now and again, but we have to be disciplined to understand.”
One source claimed that collisions were more severe during practices not open to the media.
Players can’t exercise at the facility during the two cancelled OTA practice. However, all participants in the offseason training program will be compensated.
Rivera was last week fined defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio $100,000 Comments comparing Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, to the actions of rioters and looters in the summer of 2020. Rivera claimed that Del Rio’s comment about January 6 being a “dustup”, caused a distraction for his team.