NFL overturns Texans’ Joe Mixon, Will Anderson Jr.’s $25,000 fines for comments about officiating in Chiefs playoff game

HOUSTON – Texans Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon was successful in his appeal of a $25,000 fine stemming from comments about the officiating in a playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

And so was Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. in his appeal of a $25,000 fine for his criticism of the officiating, per a league source.

“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” Anderson said in a comment that initially drew the fine that was overturned on appeal.

NFL hearing officer Chris Palmer has overturned the fine and informed Mixon and the Texans in a letter addressed to Mixon on Tuesday.

“During the appeal hearing, you stated what you meant by your statements referring to the officials,” Palmer wrote. “As you know, statements can be interpreted differently by every individual and it seems like you clearly understand the weight and detriment of public criticism towards officials can be, given how impactful your platform is as a player, which I appreciate. Integrity of the game and its officials is the responsibility of everyone involved in the NFL. After reviewing the totality of the evidence. I find that you did not necessarily publicly criticize the officials. Accordingly for the reasons set forth above, the NFL will rescind the $25,000 fine amount.”

PREVIOUSLY: Texans running back Joe Mixon appeals $25,000 fine for criticizing controversial calls: ‘This has to stop’

Mixon and Anderson both appealed under Article 46 of the NFL collective bargaining agreement on Jan. 30. The fine letter was also communicated to Texans officials, including coach DeMeco Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio.

“We will defend Joe and have appealed the fine and will explore all other legal avenues to rectify this situation,” Mixon’s agent, Peter Schaffer told KPRC 2 in a text message at the outset of the appeal. “This has to stop. What’s next? The NFL fining Joe for Connor McDavid cross checking in an NHL game?

In the wake of two penalties against Anderson and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o for hits on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Mixon and Anderson were both critical of the calls. To’oTo’o was not fined.

“Everybody know how it is, playing up here, you can never leave it into the refs’ hands,” Mixon said. “But I mean the whole world see what it is, bro. It is what it is. It’s all good, though.”

The NFL confirmed the fine was applied and it was for the above comment when it reissued the punishment to Mixon.

Then, former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh wrote on social media: “Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with the Chiefs. These officials are (trash cans) & bias.”

That quote was incorrectly connected to Mixon in an online article, but that comment about “50/50″ was then attributed to Mixon in the original fine letter that was updated.

“I’m getting fined by the @nfl for what someone else said,” Mixon wrote. “What’s next? I get fined by them for Connor McDavid cross checking an opponent on a @nhlgame! & really tried to fine me 4 the max that’s mind blowing”

Mixon expanded on that comment hours later.

“So let me get this straight NFL fines me 25k for something I didn’t even say,” Mixon said. “Call them out for it, and they response was fine me AGAIN for something that’s not even a violation without even rescinding the first one. Where’s the accountability? Just respect the players. Cold.”

And Schaffer weighed in on social media, too, writing: “NFL needs to treat its players with more respect. Just saying.”

‘We knew it was going to be us against the refs,’ Texans upset with officiating in painful playoff loss to Chiefs

Between Anderson being flagged for roughing the passer along with To’oTo’o being penalized for unnecessary roughness as Mahomes was protected by calls, the Texans felt like they couldn’t catch a fair break during this frustrating loss at Arrowhead Stadium where they outplayed Kansas City in several phases of the game.

To be clear, the Texans lost the football game not just because of officiating. But a pair of drives extended by Mahomes ultimately led to 10 total points for the Chiefs as they advanced to the AFC championship game again as they chase a Super Bowl threepeat.

It was Anderson, who sacked Mahomes twice without flags and who was penalized in the second quarter for a high hit on the former NFL Most Valuable Player toward his neck and the bottom of his facemask as he threw incomplete to tight end Travis Kelce.

“I had forcible contact to the facemask area and so I went with roughing the passer on that play,” referee Clay Martin told a Houston pool reporter representative for the Pro Football Writers of America organization.

Those calls were affirmed by NFL supervisor of officiating Walt Anderson, but he did say these kind of calls will be reviewed during the offseason for potential changes.

After the season, Anderson reacted to that development for the future.

“The type of player that I am, after the play, I didn’t go to the ref, I didn’t do none of that,” Anderson said. “I kept playing and I had a really great game. I didn’t let that affect me. I didn’t let that affect how I played. Me and DeMeco talked and I moved on. I’m not the type to chase calls. The NFL can do whatever they need to do. I feel as a player you keep playing. No matter what you say in an interview, that’s your opinion.

“You know what I’m saying? Some calls, in my opinion, could have been better calls, but that’s okay. That’s my opinion. At the end of the day, it’s about us. We have to do a better job of executing, we have to do a better job of being ready and no matter what the outcome we have to do a better job of handling Texans business on both sides of the ball.”

After halftime, Mahomes was scrambling and appeared to do a late slide as there was contact between the quarterback and To’oTo’o and defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi running into each other as well as their helmets struck each other. That led up to a touchdown pass from Mahomes to Kelce to boost the Chiefs’ lead to 20-12.

Mahomes appeared to slide late.

When asked about the slide and if that should be corrected, Anderson said: ‘Most definitely. For everybody’s safety. Quarterbacks are sliding to get hit, but their body is still up. I think it’s hard to judge a defensive player going full speed and him stopping.

“I think people think that’s easy and it’s not for huge bodies to stop. We just have to keep playing. We can’t worry about the calls. We can’t worry about the officiating. We have to play our brand of ball.”

“Yes, I have mentioned that before about the late slides,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Some things are just unfortunate and out of our control. It didn’t go our way today.”

Obviously, the NFL wants to prioritize protecting quarterbacks from injuries. It’s part of the game.

“He slid obviously, and when he slides, he is considered defenseless,” Martin told a pool reporter. “The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.”

When To’oTo’o was asked about the penalty, he replied: “It is what it is.”

Martin’s comment on the call was relayed directly to To’oTo’o by KPRC 2. He replied similarly: “It is what it is. They’re going to call it and it’s whatever.”

Ryans didn’t directly criticize the officials. His comment was more nuanced.

“We knew going into this game, man, it was us versus everybody,” Ryans said. “And when I say everybody, it’s everybody. Knowing that going into this game, what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes that we made. Whether it’s special teams not converting our kicks.

“Defensively, not being where we’re supposed to be in coverage. Offensively, not protecting our quarterback and keeping him clean. You married that on top of everything else that we have to deal with, it’s just going to be a really tough uphill battle.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com