Seahawks Cooper Helfet explains wacky fine system among tight ends
Dec 13, 2015, 4:24 PM | Updated: 4:37 pm
(AP)
If you thought Marshawn Lynch and Michael Bennett were the Seahawks who are most often fined, you haven’t been paying attention to Seattle’s tight ends.
Cooper Helfet told “Seahawks Weekly” about a kangaroo-court fine system among the Seahawks tight end group, where they fine each other for off-the-wall penalties that happen off the field.
“The Big Baller fine – any time you got a new car or say something that is so absurd, or out of the ordinary, you get a Big Baller fine,” Helfet explained. “You get an Uncle Rico fine when you bring back a high school or college highlight. We’ve got an awesome fine system going.”
Helfet said injured starter Jimmy Graham has been docked heavily for his Adidas and Powerade commercials.
Related: With Graham out, Helfet hopes to catch on with improved blocking
“That’s always a solid $250-$300 fine,” he said. “That’s a media fine, but an extensive one – national ones.”
The fourth-year pro said the fine money is pooled together, with half of the funds recently going to a children’s group that buys toys for kids, with the other half going toward a group trip for anyone in the tight ends’ room. Last year the group traveled to Las Vegas.
Helfet, who is a male model when not on the field, said he gets fined heavily for his good looks.
“Every time they put one of those pictures up before team meetings that’s a solid two-hundy going into the fine room,” he said.
Helfet said the fines bumped up in December and that he already felt the hurt to his wallet.
“I already got a $50 fine for just coming here tonight,” he said. “(Luke Willson) heard about it in the locker room.”