The National Football League's system for punishing players is broken in every way. Without any ounce of accountability, the league continues to levy fines and suspensions upon its players in ways that make little-to-no sense for those on the outside. The lack of consistency is maddening, and yet the bizarre penalties are handed out year after year.
This year's ridiculous and indefensible list of punishments has affected a couple of Kansas City Chiefs players in major ways. For wide receiver Rashee Rice, a six-game suspension to start the season was a heavy-handed take when compared to similar situations. Not only that, but the league reportedly wanted Rice to miss far more games than that for causing a multi-vehicle accident in Dallas while driving recklessly. Rice undoubtedly deserved to be punished, but the NFL was out for blood on a disproportional level.
The latest incident isn't costly to the Chiefs on the field, but it's another outsized hit to the pocketbook of running back Isiah Pacheco. The NFL decided to fine Pacheco for the use of his helmet on a rushing play in which he was never flagged in the first place. And they're doing so to the tune of nearly $50K.
Specifically, Pacheco is being forced to hand over $46,371 for this play in Week 13 against the Dallas Cowboys.
The NFL fined Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco $46,371 for unnecessary roughness — use of the helmet on this play. pic.twitter.com/BZd7g18T1I
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 6, 2025
If you watch the play, you'll see Pacheco lower his helmet as he engages with the defender to attempt to stave off the tackle and gain more yards. It's a truck stick play that's been a staple of running backs for so long that it's a part of Madden lore as well. Yet the league's powers-that-be have deemed it punishable in 2025. It's bananas.
Everything about Isiah Pacheco's recent fine from the NFL reveals how ridiculous the entire system can be.
Not only is it egregious that the NFL would want to come back and officially review and levy a fine on a play like this that never warranted a flag in the first place, but the amount involved is salt in the wound. If the decision to punish is itself indefensible, then how much more so the fact that Pacheco is being docked that much money for a former seventh-round selection. The sum of Pacheco's signing bonus is $79K and in this single play, the majority of that amount is gone because the league wanted to retroactively slap him on the hand for something that was never wrong in the first place.
It's for this very situation that the Players Association exists, and Pacheco's fellow players can only hope that the entity can serve as protection for the player in this situation. Pacheco deserves someone to speak up on his behalf, to provide some sort of cover for the running back and corrective for the NFL. Hopefully an appeal is forthcoming.
There's a reason the league spits these fines out at the end of a work week. Media coverage for Friday afternoon news dumps is minimal, which is why the NFL has taken the cowardly path while delivering a "message" to Isiah Pacheco. It's embarrassing, and they know it, yet do it anyway, the continuation of a purposely convoluted pattern that has hit home for the Chiefs once again.