Bruce Arians, the coach who led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory, has announced his intention to appeal a $50,000 fine he received for hitting one of his own players on the helmet during a recent game.
Despite the Buccaneers triumphing over the Philadelphia Eagles with a score of 31-15, attention shifted to social media post-game due to controversial footage capturing Arians’ actions. In a brief four-second clip, Arians is seen dashing towards Tampa Bay safety Andrew Adams. He swiftly taps Adams on the helmet with an open palm to grab his attention. Arians’ momentum propels him further, resulting in a collision with Adams and an accidental elbow to the player’s shoulder. Throughout the incident, Arians appeared visibly upset.
This incident occurred in the third quarter while the Bucs were preparing for a play near their team’s sideline.
Reflecting on the event the following day, Arians remarked, “I’ve witnessed enough foolish actions. You can’t pull players out of a scrum. We had just made a significant play, gained excellent field position, and he [Adams] was attempting to extract a player from the pile. I intervened to prevent a potential penalty.”
Regarding the imposed fine, Arians stated on Wednesday, “I will contest it. It was unrelated to the game, so we should be able to resolve it.”
