Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter has been fined $141,176, the equivalent of three game checks, by the NFL for his role in a March altercation in which he punched Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Levi Jones at a Las Vegas blackjack table.
Porter, 30, pleaded guilty on May 30 to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from the incident.
The $141,176 fine, first reported by NFL.com and confirmed by league sources, is one of the biggest in NFL history. It represents three-seventeenths of Porter's scheduled base salary of $800,000 for the 2007 season. But it does mean that Porter, who signed a five-year, $32 million contract with the Dolphins after he was released by Pittsburgh this spring, will avoid a suspension.
Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said Porter met with him shortly afterward and apologized. Cameron said the league and team would not punish Porter further, despite NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's recent crackdown on player misbehavior.
"It's over. He has been fined and it's over, and I think he's learned from it," Cameron said at a charity golf tournament.
It is not known if Porter has or will appeal the fine.
An eight-year veteran, Porter had played his entire career with the Steelers before he was released in a salary cap-related move. The loquacious linebacker, one of the best outside pass rushers in the league from a 3-4 alignment, has 461 tackles, 60 sacks, 18 forced fumbles and seven recoveries in 122 games.
so joey porter and his entourage punch levi jones and steal his jewelry and pleaded guilty only gets fined by roger goodell?! i see something wrong here..... plus, the whole thing is recorded on tape and the police has clear evidence that joey porter did it. joey porter also lied to the nfl network. i remember watching his interview with the nfl network crew and said he didn't do anything wrong to levi jones... guess what? weeks later, he confesses and pleads guilty.... and that only costs him a $141,176 fine....
