The amount is right
The no suspension and reasoning behind it is flat wrong
NFL fines but doesn't suspend Jags S Darius for hit
Dec. 21, 2004
SportsLine.com wire reports
NEW YORK -- Jacksonville Jaguars safety Donovin Darius was fined $75,000 by the NFL on Tuesday for a hit across the neck of Green Bay's Robert Ferguson that left the wide receiver temporarily paralyzed.
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Darius, who was ejected from the game, wasn't suspended because league disciplinarian Gene Washington noted that this was the first time he had been disciplined for a violation.
The hit came in the fourth quarter of Jacksonville's 28-25 win over the Packers.
Ferguson caught a pass over the middle, and Darius hit him across the helmet and neck with a forearm. Ferguson lay on the ground and was taken off the field, regaining feeling in his legs later, after he was hospitalized. He remained in the hospital Sunday and Monday nights.
Darius, whose annual salary is more then $4 million a season, was ejected by referee Ed Hochuli.
"You violently and unnecessarily struck your opponent in the neck and head area with your forearm," Washington said in his letter to Darius.
Darius said after the game that he wasn't trying to deliberately injure Ferguson.
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The Associated Press News Service
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