During last Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness on a hit he made against Davante Adams.
After the game, in a radio appearance with KFAN, head coach Mike Zimmer said Sendejo was told by the officials during the game that he could not have possible done anything different on the play but that the league wanted them to throw a flag.
“He (Sendejo) said, ‘What could I have done different?'” Zimmer said, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “He (the official) said ‘You did everything right. You couldn’t have done anything different. They just want us to throw the flag.'”
As if that weren’t a big enough kick to the family jewels, Sendejo has since been fined $53,482 for the hit on Adams, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
It’s worth pointing out that Sendejo is a repeat offender, and that he made headlines recently for saying he wanted to make football violent again.
Still, there’s something not right about all this. The Sendejo hit wasn’t the only very questionable penalty called for roughing in this same game, either.
The NFL is maddeningly inconsistent about what is and what is not a penalty these days, and that’s making it impossible for defenders to come out on top.