Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon figures it's not beyond the NFL to make him pay the price for Connor McDavid's actions in another country.
Mixon wondered aloud about that possibility, seemingly sarcastically, after the NFL fined him $25,000 on Wednesday for something he didn't say about officials, the running back and his agent told ESPN.
The bizarre sequence of the events started when Mixon was asked about two controversial penalties against the Texans for hits on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in a divisional-playoff loss on Saturday.
"Everybody knows how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs' hands," Mixon said, per ESPN. "The whole world sees, man, what it is. When it comes down to it, you can never leave it into the refs' hands. It's all good, though."
Former NFL receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh then weighed in on X.
The Houshmandzadeh post is included in a Sports Illustrated story on Mixon that was published after the game.
Mixon and his agent Peter Schaffer said the NFL used Houshmandzadeh's quote in applying the fine.
That prompted Mixon to turn his focus to a hockey play that has been making the rounds in Canada the past few days.
"I’m getting fined by the @nfl for what someone else said. What’s next? I get fined by them for Connor McDavid cross checking an opponent on a @nhl game!" Mixon wrote on X.
McDavid, of course, was handed his own controversial penalty this week — a three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland in the head
Schaffer told ESPN that Mixon will be appealing the fine.
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