It wasn’t quite Dashon Goldson money, but Brandon Meriweather will be paying up for his own headshot.
Meriweather was fined $42,000 on Wednesday for leading with his helmet during Washington’s loss to the Packers on Sunday, according to the NFL Network’s Albert Breer.
The Redskins safety delivered blows to the heads of Packers running backs Eddie Lacy, forcing him to leave the game with a concussion, and James Starks, a hit that caused Meriweather to leave with a concussion, in consecutive quarters on Sunday. It’s still unclear which hit warranted the fine, but it’s fairly safe to assume the blow to Lacy (see: right) was what did him in.
The former Patriots and Bears safety is a repeat offender of the NFL’s helmet-to-helmet and defenseless receiver policies, incurring almost $100,000 in fines during his first five seasons. Wednesday’s fine pushes him up over the $100K threshold for his career.
Considering his status as a repeat offender, and the fact that he drew flags for hits in consecutive quarters on Sunday, it’s surprising that the NFL didn’t even consider a suspension for Meriweather. Goldson was originally suspended one game earlier this week for leading with his helmet in back-to-back weeks, but the suspension was overturned on Wednesday, and he was hit with $100,000 fine instead.
Like Goldson, though, Meriweather may want to be on high alert, as another offense of the sort could see him sitting out one game and losing a game check, which would mean another $75,000 or so out of his pocket.
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