Fines Levied For Washington-Atlanta Spat

NFL News - November 12th, 2009 - Written by John

Four participants in the November 7th near-melee during the Washington Redskins/Atlanta Falcons game have been fined by the NFL on Thursday.

Washington defenders LeRon Landry and Albert Haynesworth were penalized $5,000 and $7,500, respectively, while Falcons coach Mike Smith was handed a whopping $15,000 ticket. Another Atlanta executive was fined $2,500.

The fines come on the heels of a messy scuffle on the Atlanta sideline after Landry blasted quarterback Matt Ryan as he headed out-of-bounds. Ryan was a good two feet off the field when Landry made contact, spurring a hefty confrontation from most of the Atlanta roster. Former Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall couldn't resist confronting his former teammates, and quickly came to Landry's aid. That caused what could've been a minor spat handled by a 15-yard flag to turn into a minutes long shoving match. Smith got involved once he saw Hall join in, and had to be restrained by officials. Haynesworth wasn't near the scuffle until he saw Hall being assaulted, but his prior history didn't help. Haynesworth was identified has the second-dirtiest player in the NFL, as voted by his peers in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated, once stepping on the face of a defenseless opponent who's helmet was off.

Hall, who said in the days leading up to the game that he couldn't wait sticking it to his former team, wasn't fined. He spent his first four years in the league in Atlanta, but left bitterly after being traded to Oakland in 2007. Hall told reporters after the game that Smith approached him again and used profanities, and that director of athletic performance, Jeff Fish wanted to "get some licks in", too. Fish was seen in the mix, and was the fourth person fined.

That more teammates didn't help him fend off the frenzy of Atlanta players, Hall admitted to 106.7 The Fan, "I'm always ready to mix it up. And to see those guys kind of linger over there, yeah, I don't know what was going through their minds."

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