The National Football League fined Houston Texans star Joe Mixon $25,000 for comments he allegedly made against officials following the Texans’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the league later admitted to making a mistake, as Mixon never actually made the statements for which he was penalized. As Pro Football Talk pointed out, the fine was based on a quote from a tweet referencing an SI.com story that misattributed Mixon’s actual comments after the game. Ultimately, Mixon expressed completely different sentiments when discussing how the game was officiated, underscoring the NFL’s blunder.
The league acknowledged the costly error and issued a punishment for the comments Mixon actually made, rather than the miscredited ones. Despite the controversy, Mixon and the Texans triumphed in the AFC South after a rollercoaster season, defeating Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL Wild Card Round before succumbing to the reigning champion Kansas City.
As many will attest, beating Kansas City at this stage is a formidable challenge, and Houston’s performance against such a competitive team holds no shame. Defensive standout Will Anderson Jr. excelled throughout the game, leaving plenty of reasons for optimism about the Texans’ future. At least the Texans can now move on without the headache of the NFL’s unusual blunder.
