Odell Beckham Jr. receives HUGE fine for a dangerous act involving Detroit Lions player

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was handed a significant fine for a dangerous act involving Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph, despite the incident going unpunished during the live game. This week, Beckham incurred a fine of $21,844 for his actions against Joseph, making it the second-largest fine for Week 7 and the third fine for Beckham in the last two weeks.

In the late stages of the game, Beckham received a pass from Lamar Jackson and intentionally lowered his head, resulting in a helmet-to-helmet collision with Joseph. In the accompanying video, you can observe the forceful impact causing Joseph’s head to violently snap back. The officials subsequently removed Joseph from the game for a concussion evaluation. Fortunately, Joseph was cleared, and as Week 8 approaches, he carries no injury designation.

This hit unequivocally breaches the NFL’s rule regarding the “Impermissible use of the helmet.” The 2023 NFL rulebook outlines this regulation as follows (emphasis added):

ARTICLE 10. IMPERMISSIBLE USE OF THE HELMET. It is a foul if a player:

(a) lowers his head and utilizes his helmet to forcefully touch an opponent; (b) butts or makes forcible contact with an opponent’s head or neck area using any portion of his facemask or helmet.

Incidental contact between the mask and the helmet during a traditional tackle or block on an opponent is not prohibited under these laws. Penalty: For using the helmet improperly: A 15-yard loss. It is also a first down by default if the defense committed the foul. The participant can be eliminated.

After the game, Joseph posted this on Instagram to express his displeasure that Beckham was not penalized for the incident.
Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith was also punished for a hit on Jared Goff in the fourth quarter, in addition to Beckham. On the play, Smith made high contact with Goff and was given a 15-yard penalty.

In Week 7, no Lions player was fined.