Cleveland Browns: NFL issues fine for “allowed” hit on Baker Mayfield

Fans were shocked that an NFL ref actually said a hit to Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield’s head was allowed, and rightfully so

Everyone watching the game knew this was coming. It’s all too common an occurrence anymore than an NFL ref makes an egregious call that affects the outcome of the Cleveland Browns game.

Week 7 saw the worst example of this, and it wasn’t close.

Late in the Browns loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Baker Mayfield took off on a run and at the end, he slid to a stop. Tampa Bay safety Jordan Whitehead came in and drilled Mayfield in the head as he was sliding.

Flags flew and it looked like a 15-yard penalty was coming. That was until another official, Shawn Hochuli, picked up the flag and said the hit to his head was “allowed” since Mayfield was still a “runner.”

Naturally, Browns fans were up in arms over the hit and even more irate over the ref saying a hit to the head was ok. These are the very guys who are supposed to help the players stay safe in a dangerous game and they failed miserably here.

Unsurprising to any Cleveland fan, the league has once again come out and admitted a mistake. Not only did they say the flag should have stayed, but now they’re fining Whitehead $26,738 for the hit.

The league needs to do more than fine the player for this action. What Whitehead did was in the heat of the moment and he’s never shown any signs of being a dirty player. What he did was a mistake, but most likely not intentional.

What Hochuli did was inexcusable. He didn’t have to make a decision in the heat of the moment. He was thinking clear and had time to gather his thoughts. Not only that, he already had the decision made for him. All he had to do was announce the obvious penalty everyone could see.

Instead, Hochuli said in front of the world that it was an allowable hit to the head. That’s the real issue and he’s the one who should be answering for such a bad call.

As for Browns fans, who were part of the missed calls that cost another official his job, we all wonder what bad call happens next. Then we will take polls on how long until the next NFL apology is sent out. What we don’t expect, is for them to fix this glaring issue because it’s become a regular thing now.