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T.O. Fined $35,000 for Spitting in Hall’s Face

T.O. has gotten a slap on the wrist for spitting in D’Angelo Hall’s face.

Terrell Owens was fined $35,000 by the NFL on Monday for spitting in the face of Atlanta’s D’Angelo Hall during Saturday night’s Cowboys-Falcons game. The flamboyant Dallas receiver was not suspended.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello announced the fine, which came after Hall knocked Owens out of bounds on a pass play during Dallas’ 38-28 win.

The incident was not detected by game officials and there was no penalty. He would have been ejected from the game under NFL rules. Hall said that, as he ran to the sideline, he told the officials Owens had spit on him, but was apprised that no one had seen it.

Owens apologized for the incident in an interview after Saturday’s game.

According to a report on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Web site, Owens now says that he doesn’t recall spitting in Hall’s face and accused Hall of blowing the incident out of proportion to deflect attention from his bad day in coverage.

Hall had called for the NFL to suspend Owens. “I think, for what he did, he deserves more than a fine,” Hall said on Sunday. “The guy has all the money in the world. He’s making $10 million or whatever this year. So what’s a fine going to mean to him, really? What he did, it was [vulgar], you know? But he’s a great player, a great competitor, and what would hurt him a lot more than a fine is making him sit. That would get his attention. And that’s what I think the league should do. They need to do something pretty [severe], because there’s something wrong with him, and he just can’t get away with this kind of stuff.”

Hall’s right that $35,000 is a meaningless penalty for someone in Owens’ financial situation. On the other hand, it’s pretty steep for an action that was not caught by game officials or television cameras.

That said, Owens has continued to embarrass himself and Cowboys fans with his childish shenanigans. This is inexcusable behavior for a professional athlete, let alone a veteran of his stature.

 
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