Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon is in the clear after the NFL on Tuesday retracted a $25,000 fine for something Mixon didn’t say.
Mixon was dinged for public criticism of the officials after his team’s AFC divisional round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, yet hearing officer Chris Palmer explained in a letter that he concluded “that (Mixon) did not necessarily publicly criticize the officials.”
The referees were under the microscope during the Chiefs’ 23-14 win over the Texans, particularly for a play in which two Houston defenders collided into each other while trying to tackle a sliding Patrick Mahomes, leading to an errant call for a late hit.
“You can never leave it into the refs’ hands,” Mixon told reporters after the game. “The whole world sees, man, what it is. When it comes down to it, you can never leave it into the refs’ hands. It’s all good, though.”
Mixon appeared to mean that the Texans should have done more so that the result of the game didn’t come down to a few calls by officials. However, that’s not what got Mixon in trouble in the first place.
Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh wrote on X, “Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with the Chiefs,” going on to call the referees trash and biased.
A Sports Illustrated article incorrectly attributed the quote to Mixon, which was the basis of the NFL’s fine, according to Mixon and his agent.
The NFL then re-issued the fine while centering Mixon’s actual, tamer comments.
“So let me get this straight NFL fines me 25k for something I didn’t even say. Call them out for it, and they response was fine me AGAIN for something that’s not even a violation without even rescinding the first one,” Mixon wrote on X on Jan. 22. “Where’s the accountability? Just respect the players.”
Mixon got that “respect” from Palmer at the end of his ordeal.
“During the appeal hearing, you stated what you meant by your statements referring to the officials,” Palmer wrote in his letter. “As you know, statements can be interpreted differently by every individual and it seems like you clearly understand the weight and detriment of public criticism towards officials can be, given how impactful your platform is as a player, which I appreciate.”
The state of NFL officiating was under intense scrutiny in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LIX, where the two-time defending champion Chiefs fell 40-22 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The NFL Referees Association released a statement calling it “insulting” that some fans believed officials were helping Mahomes and the Chiefs with their calls, scolding fans for what they termed conspiracy theories.
