NFL Fans Outraged After Roger Goodell Makes Controversial Decision Ahead of Week 4

The NFL has officially made it through three weeks of play, and it has been a hectic start to the season. Unfortunately, part of this chaos has been because of a number of key injuries early in the season. One of the most notable players to be knocked out this season is Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa whose future now remains uncertain.

In Week 3. the Philadelphia Eagles lost star receiver Devonta Smith because of a late hit. Though the referees didn't blow the whistle, New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Khristian Boyd delivered this late hit after forward progress already finished.

This "dirty" hit led fans to call for Boyd to be fined or even suspended. On Wednesday, Roger Goodell and the NFL announced that Boyd was fined $4,600, which is a low number in comparison to other fines across the league.

Los Angeles Chargers' safety Derwin James Jr. was suspended for a game without pay after a similar hit, leaving fans outraged as they didn't think it was enough of a punishment for Boyd, with one fan saying, "should've been $46,000."

Other fans chimed in, saying, "that's not enough," and "I've seen more consequences for less."

One fan even listed an example of this, saying, "But CJGJ (CJ Gardner-Johnson) got fined $11k for pulling a mouth piece off against Atlanta. Make it make sense."

It's clear that a big segment of fans don't agree with the league's decision, as they believe the fine was entirely too low. Even so, the play was more on the referee rather than the player, but it was still his decision to deliver an unnecessary hit to Smith that knocked him out for at least one week.

The NFL has become increasingly strict on player safety over recent years, but Boyd was not whistled for a penatly on the play and defended himself by saying he was not trying to hurt Smith.

“I would never deliberately try to give someone a serious injury. Just tried to make a play on the ball. (Be) well soon 6,” Boyd wrote in a since-deleted Instagram story .

Related: NFL Sends Swift Punishment To Saints DT For Illegal Hit On DeVonta Smith: Report