NFL Makes Final Decision on Star's Suspension After Fans Lash Out

After a hit to the head of Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth in Week 3, the NFL suspended Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowl safety Derwin James Jr. on Monday for one game.

Following an appeal by James, the league made its final call on the matter late Tuesday.

NFL Senior Vice President of Football & International Communications Michael Signora made the announcement on social media, citing hearing officer Derrick Brooks' decision.

Speaking on the "Ross Tucker Football Podcast," Tucker, a former NFL offensive lineman, explained the league's thought process for the suspension.

"He's got like five unnecessary roughness penalties over the last year or so, and basically they're not giving him the benefit of the doubt," Tucker said. "If it's close, they're going to punish some of these guys, like Kareem Jackson, that are frequent offenders and that's what happened to Derwin James here."

Three of James' five career fines from the NFL have been for hits on defenseless receivers, while only one has been for unnecessary roughness," according to his Spotrac page .

The league's final call came less than five days before the Chargers host the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4.

After Monday's initial announcement, fans were very vocal about how the Chiefs were set to catch a break with James out for Sunday's rivalry game. This came after consecutive weeks of polarizing late-game finishes involving Kansas City.

"Oh one game? Just for the chiefs game? They don’t even hide it anymore," one fan commented on Monday.

"Lol to protect Mahomes 😭😭😭" another added .

James, a 2018 first-round pick, is known to shadow Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce in coverage during the team's two divisional matchups each season.

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