NFL fines Joe Mixon $25,000 for something he didn’t say

The NFL has responded to criticism over perceived errors of officiating from Saturday’s Texans-Chiefs playoff game by making an actual error by penalizing a player for saying something he clearly did not say.

The league has fined Texans running back Joe Mixon for saying this after the Kansas City win: “Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with the Chiefs. These officials are trash and bias.”

Mixon didn’t say that. The quote is from a tweet included in a SI.com history regarding Mixon’s actual postgame comments.

Said Mixon: “Everybody knows how it plays up here. You can never leave it in the referee’s hands. The whole world’s watching, man.”

The same article attributes the comment for which Mixon was fined not to Mixon, but to former Bengals receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh. (Here is the tweet.)

Mixon’s actual quote was not mentioned in the fine letter. Presumably it was not enough to trigger punishment.

Mixon’s agent, Peter Schaffer, tells PFT that he will “defend and appeal” the fine and “will explore all other legal options to remedy this situation.”

The immediate answer is simple. The NFL needs to rescind the fine and apologize to Mixon for a mistake more egregious than most bad calls.

UPDATE 4:07 PM ET: The NFL now has reissued the fineremove what he did not say and insert what he did say.