Titans' Bud Adams Fined $250,000 For Crude Gestures Made Sunday

Adams Has Apologized For Flipping "The Bird" Toward Bills Sideline During Sunday's Game

The NFL yesterday fined Titans Owner BUD ADAMS $250,000 "for obscene gestures he made" during Sunday's game against the Bills at LP Field, including repeatedly flashing his middle fingers, according to Jim Wyatt of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. Despite Adams yesterday apologizing for his actions, the NFL punished him for "conduct detrimental to the league." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: "I've said before we're held to a higher standard in the NFL. That includes yours truly. It includes our owners. It includes our front-office people. It includes the players. Those are things we'll continue to emphasize. And if people violate them, we'll deal with it." Wyatt notes the fine was "one of the biggest fines in NFL history." The Patriots in '07 were fined $250,000 and coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, "the maximum under the league constitution and bylaws," for the Spygate scandal. Meanwhile, fines "levied against players for flipping the bird" have included then-49ers K Joe Nedney fined $7,500 in '07 and then-Falcons QB Michael Vick was $10,000 in '06. Bills S George Wilson said, "The league holds us as players to a higher standard, so to have an owner flip the bird not once but twice, the league has to hold him to the same standard if not more" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 11/17). In Houston, David Barron notes the fine was "one of the biggest levied by the league against an individual," behind the $1M former 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo JR. was fined "after he pleaded guilty to a felony." The NFL also "suspended him for the 1999 season" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/17).

BAD TIMING: ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported one reason Adams was hit with "such a heavy fine" was because Goodell "sat in Bud Adams' suite until he left at the end of the third quarter to go sit in the stands." Mortensen: "This commissioner has got a big campaign going on to make these stadiums family-friendly stadiums" ("Monday Night Countdown," ESPN, 11/16). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said because Adams and Goodell sat together for most of the game, Adams "ought to be fined $1(M) for this" ("PTI," ESPN, 11/16).

PILING ON? The TENNESSEAN's Wyatt wrote the $250,000 fine "sure seems a little excessive to me," as Adams "got caught up in the moment." Wyatt: "When you consider the Patriots were fined the same amount as a team for Spygate, it sounds almost crazy" (TENNESSEAN.com, 11/16). But FanHouse.com's Jay Mariotti said, "You have to hold owners to the highest of standards." L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said Goodell should "ban him" from the Titans' next game, a "MNF" matchup in Houston. Plaschke: "That was horrendous what he did to the fans" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 11/16). Titans C KEVIN MAWAE: "You know Mr. Adams has got a little feistiness in him still. I can't say it was right or wrong, but I can certainly say I got a smile out of it" ("The Jim Rome Show," 11/16). Meanwhile, in Nashville, David Climer wrote, "If the Titans administration is smart, it will assign someone to accompany Bud when he is [in] public. It wouldn't hurt to have somebody there to offer a word of friendly advice when the owner gets a little carried away" (TENNESSEAN.com, 11/16).