Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith got a glimpse of the uglier side of life in the NFL on Friday when he was fined $21,000 for unnecessary roughness in the Vikings' preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on Aug. 24.
The play that earned Smith his fine occurred when the rookie hit Chargers wide receiver Mike Willie.
ProFootballTalk.com first reported that Smith had been fined for unnecessarily striking a defenseless player in the head and neck area with his shoulder.
The Vikingstraded back into the first round of April's draft to select Smith 29th overall. The Vikings gave the Baltimore Ravens their second-round (35th overall) and fourth-round (98th overall) picks in order to draft Smith.