NFL Fines Cassius Marsh For His Controversial Taunting Penalty

November 13, 2021, 12:41pm EST (Updated: December 4, 2022, 5:52pm)By Howard Cosmell

The NFL had a chance to do the right thing, and they failed miserably.

Rather than condemn referee Tony Corrente for throwing a flag on one of the weakest taunting penalties we’ve seen all year, then delivering a hip check on the Bears linebacker seconds later, the NFL completely dropped the ball on the entire situation by furthering Marsh’s punishment.

Earlier today, it was announced that the NFL would fine Marsh $5,972 for his unsportsmanlike penalty against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. The call at the time was a costly one, as it negated a big third-down stop by the Bears defense and allowed the Steelers’ offense to get a fresh set of downs during their 29-27 victory.

It was already a costly call by the officials, and the NFL upped that cost with this ridiculous fine for Marsh:

The NFL not only stands behind Monday night’s controversial taunting call against #Bears LB Cassius Marsh — the league informed Marsh on Friday he's being $5,972 for unsportsmanlike conduct, per sources.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 13, 2021

The NFL clearly feels that Corrente’s call was the right one, despite all the public backlash. Not only does the fine support that notion, but they also released a video during the week in which Senior Vice President of NFL Officiating, Perry Fewell, explained why Corrente’s taunting call was the correct one: