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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It’s dirty play from a player who’s rolled around in the mud before. Linebaker Vontaze Burfict has been fined $25,000 for two classless moves against two Panthers. He also got flagged for a late hit on Newton as well as unnecessary roughness against receiver Kelvin Benjamin. Benjamin suffered a concussion during the hit and his status for Sunday’s game at Green Bay isn’t clear.Β
Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera says, “That was an aggressive play, and we’ll go from there.” A reporter asked quarterback Cam Newton, “How did you feel about Burfict getting (fined) $25,000 for the extra curricular?” Newton replied, “I’m looking forward to Green Bay.”
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Burfict, who calls himself “Mr. Open Field” on Twitter and says he is “motivated by haters,” has a less than perfect record when it comes to this type of play. “When he was at Arizona State he was benched because of multiple fouls, he even head-butted a quarterback at one time,” says WBT radio sports talk radio host Brett Jensen.
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“You start realizing why he was never drafted in the first place, even with all the talent he’s got,” says Jensen. It’s true. Some sports experts thought Burfict would go as high as the fifth pick in the 2012 draft. But his reputation plagued him. The Bengals ended up signing him as an undrafted free agent.Β
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In 2013, Burfict was fined $31,000 for hitting two Green Bay Packers players, one in the groin. Jensen says, “I think there will be a suspension if he does this again, and given his track record, it may not be this year and it may not even be next year, but probably within two years, probably something like this is gonna happen again, and it’ll probably be a $50,000 fine and a game suspension.”
