Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola has been fined $10,000 for unnecessary roughness last week against the New England Patriots, per NFL spokesman Michael Signora. The discipline is for a play with 57 seconds left in the game when he illegally clubbed a player, not his cut block of Patriots lineman Zach Moore on the final play of the game, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
Dominic Raiola fined $10k for unnecessary roughness
Lions center Dominic Raiola was fined $10,000 for his dirty play last Sunday against the Patriots, but it wasn’t for the hit on the final snap of the game.
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Raiola apparently was mad that the Patriots had scored a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in a game that was already a blowout. Although he was not flagged for the play that earned him a fine, Raiola retaliated with several dirty plays after the Lions regained possession in the final minute, including when he went after Moore’s legs as the Lions were taking a knee with the clock winding down.
Raiola has a bit of a reputation as a jerk (like yelling at college marching band members for making the mistake of being on his sideline) but trying to purposely injure someone on the gridiron is taking it too far, so it's no surprise that the league handed him a fine. His teammate, defensive tackle C.J. Mosley, was also fined for a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Patriots.
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