As NFL fines mount for Dallas Cowboys’ Lamb, so does his confusion with uniform rules
CeeDee Lamb is confused. And it’s hard to blame him.
The Dallas Cowboys receiver has been fined five times for more than $26,000, including three uniform violations, a suspect taunting infraction, and an illegal block. Twice he was fined $5,150 for his jersey being untucked. He was fined $5,150 for his socks being too low.
“Yes, very surprised actually,” Lamb said of the fines. “Annoy me? Nah. Confuse me a lot? Very much so, yes. I just don’t understand why I’m always the one getting fined for some reason.”
Lamb was also fined $10,300 for taunting after he caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Patriots on Oct. 17. Lamb waved “goodbye” to the Patriots defender after the score. It was a cool, in the heat of the moment image that the NFL’s official social media team immediately posted on Twitter and other platforms. Then they deleted it.
“Don’t get me started on that,” Lamb said with a bemused laugh. “They tweeted it, deleted it, and after that, I got fined. So there’s that. The week after, I did see a couple of people waving, but I’m not going to get into that right now.”
Indeed, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was seen waving at an opponent. He has yet to be fined. Another sticking point? Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was fined only $14,650 for breaking league COVID-19 protocols for unvaccinated players by attending a Halloween party.
“I don’t know. Like I don’t know what I need to do, honestly,” he said. “I just know for sure I’m more conscious of it. Whenever … post tackle or anything, I guess I got to look down pull my jersey down. Stuff like that. It’s very weird, considering the next time I get caught with my jersey untucked, I heard I get fined like $50,000 or something. That’s weird.”
Teammate Amari Cooper joked that the fines show Lamb doesn’t care about money. Not true, Lamb said. He wasn’t fined for uniform violations as a rookie a year ago.
“I do love money for those that don’t know,” he said. “I’m going to make sure every game now that [my uniform is] fine before the game.”
Adding more salt in the wounds for Lamb, who was taking all of this with a good-natured laugh, is Vikings defensive back Harrison Smith not being fined after Lamb alleged Smith choked him after a tackle on the sideline two weeks ago. The officials said Smith’s thumb got stuck in Lamb’s face mask.
“That’s crazy. That’s nonsense,” Lamb said. “I know what it feels like to be choked. I was being choked.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
