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          NFL Nation

          Steelers deserved hefty fine for faking injury

          • Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff WriterNov 9, 2012, 02:57 PM ET
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              Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
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          The NFL has fined numerous players for injuring others, whether it's a helmet-to-helmet hit or a personal foul. Now, the league is sending a message that players can be fined for faking an injury, and rightfully so.

          The NFL has fined the Steelers $35,000 and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders $15,000 for his faking an injury in a Week 7 win against the Bengals, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Friday.

          The league has to take a hard stance on this issue. If Sanders hadn't been disciplined, the NFL would have sent the message that other players can drop to the ground so their teams can avoid using a timeout.

          The NFL can't allow this game to turn into soccer, where flopping and acting hurt has become a bad joke. And Sanders shouldn't appeal. If you're going to fake an injury, he's got to do a better job. He dropped to the ground, saying he had a cramp in his calf. But he was back in the game after one play.

          If faking injuries becomes more prevalent, the NFL competition committee will be forced to come up with a rule to stop it. Maybe a player who stops a game to receive medical attention needs to sit out the rest of that series, or something to that effect. Let's hope that it doesn't come to that. There are enough injuries in this game that players don't need to fake them.