Ja’Marr Chase already knows his suspension, but if Jalen Ramsey is fined, could he win an appeal under the circumstances? Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio believes it’s a possibility, despite the fact that he earned an ejection. In recent years, the NFL hasn’t seemed to mind bucking precedents, though, so it will be interesting to see.
Late in last Sunday’s game, Ja’Marr Chase spit on Jalen Ramsey, a culmination of game-long hostilities. Nobody saw clearly at the time that Chase spit on him, however. The officials only saw that Ramsey struck Chase, not understanding that it was in response to Chase’s behavior.
Both had just a short time earlier earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for quarreling. The officials flagged Ramsey a second time for his response to Chase spitting at him, resulting in his ejection. After the game, the NFL suspended Chase, and an arbitrator has already denied his appeal.
“Now the question is, do you fine Jalen Ramsey for hitting Ja’Marr Chase? I think the way that works out is he’ll get fined, he’ll have an appeal, and it’s gonna be one of the same three hearing officers, and they’re all former players”, Florio said on 93.7 The Fan.
“I think the argument there is, what would you have done?”, he went on. “And that dovetails off of the Mike Tomlin, ‘Do what comes naturally’. I won’t be surprised if he’s fined S12,172—that’s the punishment for punching someone—and then it’s overturned on appeal. And hopefully if it is, we’ll find out about it”.
Of course, none of this really matters to Ramsey. He has plenty of money, and he wouldn’t even notice that amount missing from his portfolio. But like the act of spitting on somebody, it’s more a matter of principle. Does responding to someone spitting on you in the matter Ramsey did warrant a fine? And will that stand up to a counterargument?
No doubt you’ve seen that there has been a great deal of sympathy for Jalen Ramsey’s position in the aftermath. Once it became obvious that he responded in retaliation to Chase spitting on him, people changed their views. I imagine many put themselves in his shoes and considered what they might have done.
The act of spitting on somebody is a very intentional display of disrespect. It’s certainly not an act common to the game, or even in common interaction. A fight breaking out is one thing. To spit on somebody is entirely something else. It’s a dismissal, a nullification of one’s significance. Think about where you might typically spit, and why, if you’re struggling to understand.
Now, I don’t really care, personally, if a multi-millionaire continues to pocket an extra $12 thousand. But I do care if someone is disciplined for reacting to somebody spitting on them. And all of the arbitrators, as Florio points out, are former players who can put themselves in Jalen Ramsey’s shoes. What would Ramon Foster have done if Vontaze Burfict spit on him?
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