DEFENSE: Cameron Jordan Says NFL “Slandered” Him By Accusing Him Of Faking Injury, Plans To Appeal Hefty Fines
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Speaking to reporters Monday, New Orleans Saints Defensive End Cameron Jordan said he felt “low-key slandered” when the league fined him for allegedly faking an injury during the Saints game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.
“You can’t tell me that if someone has a soft tissue injury, whether it be a cramp or a hamstring pull, whatever it is, how does someone tell you that it’s not what you’re feeling?” Jordan said. “You can’t prove that. And for me, it’s something I can prove. I had a fat foot for a week.”
Jordan, who claims his foot was so swollen, he had to remove his cleats to walk to the locker room, also said he had an MRI a few days later. After leaving the field, the team’s medical staff examined him in a tent on the sideline. He then missed several plays and received treatment during his bye week. Jordan says he experienced a “mid-foot sprain,” saying “I tweaked something in my foot.”
“There’s a whole MRI that says I was actually hurt, which is crazy that somebody can tell you not even how you feel, but how bad you’re actually hurting,” Jordan said.
Jordan and the Saints faced four fines from the league after it issued a memo to all 32 teams warning clubs not to fake injuries to gain advantages in the game.
Following the Saints/Bucs matchup the NFL announced that Jordan was fined $50,000 and Saints co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen was also fined $50,000. New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen was fined $100,000, while the Saints were fined 350,000. That is $550,000 in total fines from the NFL.
The league claims the injury was orchestrated in the fourth quarter after the Buccaneers came back from a 16-3 lead. As the Buccaneers were gaining momentum, they had a crucial 4th- and- 10 to keep the comeback alive. Instead of going for it on fourth down, Tampa sent its punting unit on the field. This is when the NFL claimed that Jordan allegedly faked an injury to force a timeout, according to reports and the league.
But Jordan questioned why he would ever fake injury when his team was in control, and had just gotten a third-down stop. At the time this happened, few assumed it was a fake injury. But cameras from ESPN allegedly caught people on the Saints sideline telling Jordan to fake the injury, according to reports.
“I love that,” Jordan said, sarcastically. “So they were going to run a play to get the first down on their 30-something? Got it. I impeded play because it was third and 17 and we’re up by (13) with three timeouts. Yeah, no, that’s the play that I wanted to go down on.”
Jordan vehemently disputed this version of events, promising to appeal the ruling and fines.
“In terms of how I play this game and how hard I play this game, I would say if this was a civil lawsuit I would countersue for triple the amount,” Jordan said.
“Fines do happen,” Jordan continued. “You hit a quarterback too hard, you can catch a fine. I was like, dang, the play I did get hurt I did grab Tom Brady, I didn’t put a pillow down before he hit the ground so that could’ve been a fine there. But no, it’s because I got hurt and was trying to walk off the field and my team was doing the right thing by me by making sure it wasn’t anything more than what it was.”
“We play a dangerous game, so nobody should be questioning if somebody gets hurt in this game,” linebacker Demario Davis said.
The Saints also issued a statement denying the allegations.
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