NFL player Eric Weddle was fined for watching his daughter dance during a halftime program on December 20. Weddle, who has played nine years with the San Diego Chargers, will miss the final game of the season, and what would probably have been his last game with the organization.
Weddle chose to forego the halftime locker room talk. Instead, he watched his daughter perform at halftime in a program sponsored by the team’s cheerleading squad. ESPN reports that his decision cost him $10,000 and his active roster spot.
The NFL player was placed on injured reserve Monday and will miss out on the team’s final game of the season.
The team fined the safety for “conduct detrimental to the team” because he didn’t ask his coaches’ permission to stay on the sideline for the halftime performance. Instead, he simply didn’t show up in the locker room. Weddle was understandably upset, considering any father would love to watch his daughter’s big halftime performance. While he should have told his coaches where he would be, the Chargers were already running away with the game and his lack of presence in the locker room wasn’t likely to change that.
Weddle’s agent David Canter called the Chargers’ treatment of their player “beyond reproach.” Being a career Charger, it was a possibility that Eric Weddle would re-sign with the San Diego team. However, that seems highly unlikely now.
While we have seen some crazy fines and situations in the NFL before, this is the first case we found of a team burning a bridge with a player because he was trying to be a good dad.
