Following a Week 13 tie against the Washington Commanders, New York Giants center Jon Feliciano told reporters he expected to be fined. And he was.
But Feliciano wasn’t necessarily fined for the reason he anticipated.
After that game, Feliciano unloaded on NFL officials. He insinuated that they were biased toward Washington throughout the game and cited several reasons. Among them was a 15-yard taunting penalty late in the fourth quarter that pushed the Giants out of field goal range.
It's soft to call this taunting, but we know they're gonna call this, wtf is Jon Feliciano thinking? Way to hurt your team for legit ZERO reason. pic.twitter.com/HE1S2esa9M
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) December 4, 2022
“It sucks, especially when you’re playing two teams,” Feliciano said, via The Athletic. “(Darius Slayton) had six guys on him on a big play. Trying to celebrate with a teammate. Didn’t look at anybody else.”
“I know that will probably get me fined,” Feliciano added. “I’m pretty sure you are not allowed to hit Richie [James] when he is trying to bring the ball to the ref in the two-minute drill. That’s a flag.”
The NFL heard Feliciano loud and clear but didn’t fine him for his comments on the officials. Rather, they fined him for the on-field taunt.
Giants center Jon Feliciano was fined $10,500 by the NFL for taunting last Sunday
Corny rule
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) December 9, 2022
Although he was furious in the moment, Giants head coach Brian Daboll eventually tried to defend his player and downplay the taunt.
“He was flexing. He was going up to Slayton and saying, ‘Hey, good job. Strong run.’ But it was close. It was (near) all those players,” Daboll told reporters after the game. “So again, how the guy looks at it and interprets it, I don’t think he can hear what Jon is saying to Slayton. So, they ended up calling it, which was obviously — we shouldn’t even be in that situation. We get the ball there; it’s going to be a first down. We’re at the 35. Probably (would) make it a two-score game. Those are things we can’t even make it close.”
Led by Giants co-owner John Mara, the NFL has placed an emphasis on taunting this year. Whether Feliciano was trying to celebrate with Slayton or not, he should have never left it up to the referees to interpret.
Still, it’s rather odd he was fined for the taunt and not the comments.
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