Packer Central

‘Justice Is Served’ for Lazard Following Taunting Fine

Green Bay Packers receiver Allen Lazard won his appeal of the fine incurred for pointing out the three Miami Dolphins he blocked to the turf on Dec. 25.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – For Green Bay Packers receiver Allen Lazard, getting a refund on his taunting fine was as easy as one, two, three.

On Friday, Lazard tweeted a snippet of the letter from the NFL that rescinded the $10,609 fine incurred for counting the three Miami Dolphins that he blocked to the turf during the fourth quarter of the Christmas Day game.

Along with the tweet, Lazard used the hashtag “#JusticeIsServed.”

Lazard was not penalized for the play, and the block no doubt was a reason why he was given a game ball for his performance.

“I think it doesn’t make sense to highlight a play and to use it on your social-media platforms to give it more attention but also to have a negative connotation. It’s very contradictory,” Lazard said when asked about the fine on Dec. 30.

The fine seemed absurd because Lazard didn’t appear to be taunting anyone. Rather than standing directly over the fallen Dolphins and pointing them out, Lazard was about 4 yards away. The counting seemed more playful and celebratory than malicious.

The block garnered more buzz on social media than on the sideline and meeting room.

“He’s been doing this for a long time, so this is nothing new,” Rodgers said a few days later. “With all due respect to Allen, we’re not surprised by that. We’re not. We’re excited about it, but we’re not surprised.

“He’s been doing that for a long time; I think just about all the time he’s been here. That’s an important part of his game. That’s what got him on the field a bunch when he was a third and fourth guy, and that’s what keeps him on the field and makes us love him so much, because he gives up his body like that, consistently. You want your best players to be your best people, and Allen definitely is one of our best people.”

Playing in his final season under contract, Lazard led the team with 60 receptions for 788 yards and was second with six receiving touchdowns in 15 games. His all-around presence, whether it was catching a pass on third down or making a key block on an explosive run, made him a key member of the offense.

“He opens up your playbook,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “Obviously, he can do a great job in the passing game with a bunch of different routes and depths in the routes and all that stuff. But he also allows you to attack certain defenses where normally you would need a tight end to do the blocking you can use him in a lot of instances to give yourself advantage when you put a receiver out there as opposed to a tight end. Maybe get one less big on the field, more DBs, kind of get more advantageous looks to run the ball. He’s definitely a really good piece for our offense to give us the best schematic advantage.”

100 Days of Mocks

Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here’s the series.

100 days: First-round quarterback?

99 days: Trading for outside linebacker

98 days: Stud tight end

97 days: This pick would break a long drought

Grading the Packers

Aaron Rodgers and the quarterbacks

Aaron Jones and the running backs

Christian Watson and the receivers

Robert Tonyan and the tight ends

David Bakhtiari, Zach Tom and the offensive line

More Packers Offseason News

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Aaron Rodgers brings the stupid out of people

Aaron Rodgers opens door to playing elsewhere

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If Packers are committed to Rodgers, it’s time to trade Love

Aaron Jones ranks among NFL’s all-time greats

One of the worst teams money could buy

Upheaval in the passing game … again

Packers’ 2023 schedule is complete

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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