NFL Fines Cowboys and Saints $500,000 Each for Training Camp Brawl. Jerry Jones Will Appeal and Fine His Own Players Anyway

The NFL fined the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints $500,000 each on Thursday, August 20, after a joint practice in Oxnard, California, turned into a brawl-fest earlier in the week. Between six and eight fights broke out, according to Newsweek, with players throwing punches, tossing helmets, and in one case executing a pro-wrestling-style body slam.

The slam came courtesy of Saints tight end Brock Rechsteiner, who took down Cowboys safety Jalen Thompson in a move the Associated Press noted was "worthy of Rechsteiner's father," pro wrestler Scott Steiner. Saints center Erik McCoy threw a Cowboys helmet into the air during one scrap and later exchanged punches with Dallas linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku, according to the AP's Greg Beacham.

Ezeiruaku was ejected from practice, his second ejection during Dallas's camp in Southern California, per Deadspin's report citing ESPN. The second-year standout, who started nine games and posted two sacks as a rookie last season, has emerged as the central figure in the fallout.

The league explained the fines in a statement reported by both Deadspin and the AP: "The Competition Committee has made sportsmanship — including at joint practices — a point of emphasis over the past several years. All clubs were reminded by memo prior to training camp of their responsibility in preventing unsportsmanlike behavior at joint practices that has the potential to result in injury."

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer and Saints coach Kellen Moore reportedly discussed ending the session early as the skirmishes piled up. "If a couple other things happened, we would cancel it," Schottenheimer said, according to Deadspin. "Nobody wants this. We want to get the work in. I thought it settled down, but it was very chippy early on, and it's unfortunate."

Moore, speaking Thursday before the fines were announced, called it plainly: "Obviously, there was a lot of non-football stuff in that joint practice, unfortunately. Not the way we like to do business."

Jones plans to appeal and fine his own players

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones told reporters in Oxnard that Dallas will appeal the league's fine, even as he acknowledged why the NFL came down hard. "It really emphasizes the league's intent to control it from the very top, which when they start dealing out those kinds of fines, they get your attention," Jones said, according to the AP.

Jones didn't stop there. He confirmed the Cowboys will separately fine players the team holds responsible for the fighting, a move first detailed by Patrik Walker of the team's media operation and later reported by Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. Jones singled out the stakes in blunt terms: "Well, I think that you have to have consequences, and that needs to register. Whether you're playing a game or out here in society, if you aren't sensitive about consequences of your behavior, then you'll be brought to your knees pretty quick."

Jones indicated Ezeiruaku is one of the players who will be fined by the team, according to both the AP and the Times of India. Names like safety Jalen Thompson and linebacker Sam Williams have also come up in reporting as possible targets, per Newsweek, though Jones has not released a final list or dollar figures for any individual player.

The math doesn't obviously favor Jones

NBC Sports pointed out the obvious irony: if Jones successfully appeals the league fine while still collecting fines from his own players, he could theoretically come out ahead financially. NBC Sports called that outcome "unlikely" and argued the league shouldn't budge, writing that fines need to be large enough to actually deter fighting, especially if teams can just pass the cost onto players anyway.

A $500,000 fine loses its bite as a deterrent for billionaire owners if the money effectively gets recouped from players making a fraction of that in base salary. But there's no evidence yet that Jones's appeal will succeed. Team fines can be appealed under league rules, and the outcome of Dallas's appeal has not been decided.

For context, the AP noted the NFL fined the New York Giants and Detroit Lions $200,000 each after a similar fight-marred joint practice two years ago. Neither of those teams announced plans to fine their own players on top of the league penalty, making Jones's approach unusually aggressive by recent precedent.

The remaining questions are straightforward: how much will individual Cowboys players actually pay, will the NFL grant Dallas's appeal or hold firm at $500,000, and does the league's stated "zero tolerance" stance translate into any further discipline, like suspensions, for players such as Ezeiruaku who were ejected twice during a single training camp. None of that has been decided as of Thursday's announcement.