New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll have each been fined $10,000 by the NFL for improperly entering the playing field during games, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Friday, per a source informed of the situation.
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line coach Pat Flaherty and Jaguars wide receiver coach Keenan McCardell were also fined $10,000 for the same violation.
Payton was flagged late in the fourth quarter of last Thursday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I called a timeout, and then [the referee] asked me again and I said I've already called the timeout," Payton said after the game, explaining why he was penalized. "Probably said it with a little bit more vigor than I was supposed to, but I had enough. I have to be smarter than that."
Carroll was also penalized late in the fourth quarter of Seattle's loss to the Jaguars for unsportsmanlike conduct. Two Seahawks defenders, Sheldon Richardson and Quinton Jefferson, were penalized and ejected, and a third member of the Seahawks, Michael Bennett, was penalized after consecutive scrums erupted while Jacksonville was in victory formation.
Among the players fined for their role in Sunday afternoon's brouhaha are Jefferson, $9,115 (unnecessary roughness); Richardson, $9,115 (unnecessary roughness); Seahawks OL Germain Ifedi, $24,309 (verbal abuse of a ref); and Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette, $12,154 (unsportsmanlike conduct). Surprisingly, Bennett was not fined.
Rule 3, Section 37, Article 1 of the NFL Rule Book states "During any timeout, including an intermission, all playing rules continue in effect. Representatives of either team are prohibited from entering the field, unless they are incoming substitutes, or team attendants or trainers entering to provide for the welfare of a player, and any game-type activities are prohibited on the Field of Play. The Head Coach may enter the field to check on the welfare of a player who is injured, but no assistant coach may enter the field."
In response to the coaches' actions last week, Troy Vincent, NFL executive vice president of football operations, issued a memo to all 32 NFL teams Monday warning that anyone engaging in "offensive contact or conduct" toward game officials will be subject to "significant discipline."
