On Friday the NFL fined Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders $15,000, and the Steelers organization $35,000 for faking an injury Oct 21st against the Cincinnati Bengals.
http://youtu.be/c3SkwfHxYaM
This is what the NFL had to say regarding its decision.
“Despite the account given by Sanders during our November 2nd meeting, neither the video sequence of the pertinent plays nor the observations of the on-field official support Sanders’s contention that he was in severe pain, either before, while falling to the ground, lying on the ground, or when he was being assisted in leaving the field,” NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson said in a letter to the Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and Sanders.
“Moreover, after missing the one play that is mandatory pursuant to the playing rules, and receiving no apparent treatment, Sanders returned to the game for a fourth down punt, on which he out sprinted all of his teammates 26 yards down the field, arriving at the ball ahead of all other Pittsburgh players, and then downing the ball.”
That’s where Sanders messed up. Although his on field acting job was questionable at best, there’s no questioning beating everyone down the field just one play removed from suddenly falling to the ground in agonizing pain without any contact.