Dashon Goldson has been fined $100,000 but was cleared to play Sunday against the New England Patriots after his one-game suspension for a helmet-to-helmet hit in Sunday’s loss to the Saints was overturned.
Former NFL center Matt Birk heard Goldson’s appeal. Goldson was flagged for the hit on Saints running back Darren Sproles, his third penalty in two regular-season games for unncessary roughness or helmet-to-helmet contact. Goldson leads the NFL in personal fouls since 2010.
He was fined $30,000 in Week 1 for his hit on New York Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland. Birk also handled Goldson’s appeal of that fine, but upheld it.
Goldson, a free agent who signed a five-year, $40 million contract, said he received a letter that spelled out the violation, including the assertion that he failed to make an attempt to “wrap up your opponent or make a conventional tackle on the play. The illegal contact clearly could have been avoided.”
He was initially suspended for one game for Sunday’s hit but appealed and had the ban overturned in time to participate in Wednesday’s practice in preparation for Sunday’s trip to face Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
The Buccaneers lead the NFL in penalty yards.
Safety Ed Reed was suspended one game last season as a member of the Ravens, but that ban was overturned in the appeals process and Reed was instead fined $50,000.