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During many NFL games, fans will hear the announcers make a joke along the lines of "he will be receiving a letter about that from the league next week" following a late hit or unsportsmanlike penalty.
According to Spotrac.com, five Buffalo Bills did, in fact, receive a fine letter during the 2014 season - two of them more than once. Here's the rundown.
Brandon Spikes was actually fined twice: once for a late hit in Week 1, and again for unsportsmanlike conduct during Week 3. Each of Spikes’ fines equaled $8,268, for a total of $16,536.
Nigel Bradham, meanwhile, received a fine for twice that amount, $16,537, for his hit on defenseless receiver Gary Barnidge during the Week 13 game against Cleveland. (He was also docked more than $40,000 for his Week 1 suspension, but we're not counting that as a fine in this breakdown.)
Former Bills wide receiver (and if you follow him on Instragram, aspiring defensive back-slash-point guard) Mike Williams twice ignored the NFL’s strict uniform requirements and paid $5,512 and $11,025 for this form of self-expression during Weeks 1 and Week 3, respectively.
During a Week 4 game against J.J. Watt and Houston, offensive lineman Cyril Richardson received an $8,268 fine for a late hit.
The most memorable - and definitely most damaging on the field - fine of the season was Jerry Hughes’ infamous unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the fourth quarter of the Bills' Thursday Night Football game at Miami. After a joint sack by Mario Williams and Corbin Bryant, Hughes appeared to complain about being held, making contact with the official in the process. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty negated the sack, turning what would have been a crucial 3rd-and-6 situation into a Miami first down. Hughes received a Bills season-high fine of $22,050 for his actions. The $22,050 amount was the seventh-largest individual fine doled out during the 2014 season, of which Hughes was just one of many recipients.
Team-wide, Bills players paid a total of $79,928 in fines, the twelfth-highest total in the league. Although none of these amounts will bankrupt any of these players, three of the seven fines were accompanied by penalties, so for a team that was fifth in the league in penalties with 124, let’s all hope Bills players are able to keep more of their cash in their wallets next year.