THE FINE HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

By Scott Daniels, Esq., NFL Draft Bible

During last year's Superbowl media frenzy, Brian Urlacher waltzed up to a podium for an ordinary press conference. Since Urlacher and his Chicago Bears team were practicing throughout media week at the Superbowl, it was only natural that he refresh himself with a cool beverage in between practices. Urlacher also exchanged that helmet of his for a cap he owned. The cap he donned was a Vitamin Water cap and the beverage was the same. This is what the NFL would call a "fashion no-no."

Unlike Gatorade, Burger King, Snickers, Pepsi, Samsung, Visa, etc., Vitamin Water is not an official sponsor of the NFL. Therefore, it has no place on the NFL stage and other corporate sponsors stand to lose millions when players sport other logos. OK, understandable. Players cannot wear unofficially licensed gear at NFL events. A simple warning sounds reasonable. Maybe a small fine would be legitimate.

The NFL took a slightly different route. Roger Goodell decided that Mr. Urlacher's actions were the equivalent of a hundred times the amount that Justin Smith, defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals, received for pleading guilty to a DUI in 2004.

Urlacher was slammed with a $100,000 fine for wearing the Vitamin Water hat and players must now think twice before attending a certified NFL event in that Gucci leisure suit. From a logical standpoint, wearing an unofficially licensed article of clothing doesn't even compare to a criminal offense. Urlacher most likely wore the hat to freely advertise the drink during media week, but to fine him 100K - that's not justice, it's first degree robbery.

Seriously though, when a player acts outside of the interests of the league, or commits a crime that would tarnish the league's image, fines are an easy way to punish offenders. Everyone knows that most fines are insignificant to players that rake in millions each year, but the fine still has to be justified. How does the NFL justify a $100,000 fine on Urlacher for wearing an unofficially licensed hat? Simple. They can't.

Urlacher wore the hat in a press conference during media week of the Superbowl. So yes, the spotlight is a bit brighter during the Superbowl. However, by hitting Urlacher with a major fine that hit news wires immediately and become a relatively large story, Vitamin Water got an enormous amount of publicity. The NFL actually bolstered Urlacher's original intention - to get Vitamin Water some face-time during the Superbowl!

The NFL today is a business. Corporate sponsors run the show and money is the only thing that talks. Original named stadiums are almost extinct and have been replaced by the likes of Gillette Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, Bank of America Stadium and Monster Park (this one sounds more like an amusement park than a stadium). The fine that Urlacher received was completely ridiculous. Players should be fined that amount when violating the law, not for violating some NFL bylaw inspired by huge conglomerates.

NFL players, I leave you with one piece of legal advice - to protect your hard earned assets, lose the Prada shades in the post game press conference. Start banking with Bank of America instead of Chase. Fly Southwest because we all know Delta isn't official. Trade in that LG for a Samsung and leave that American Express at home, the NFL only accepts VISA. If it's a Coke that you crave, make it a Pepsi and please, whatever you do, trade in that BMW for a General Motors vehicle, just to be safe.