Two Pittsburgh Steelers players were fined for late hits in the team’s Week 1 game against the San Francisco 49ers, the NFL announced on Saturday.
Safety Keanu Neal and long snapper Christian Kuntz both had their wallets lightened by the NFL on Saturday.
Both fouls happened on special teams.
Neal was fined $8,556 for unnecessary roughness. His offense came at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter after he got into it with Jauan Jennings after a Steelers punt.
Kuntz was fined $5,222 for a facemask that ripped the helmet off former Steelers wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud, who was returning a punt for the 49ers. McCloud returned three punts for 41 yards in the game, his first against his former team.
According to the NFL CBA, the amount of the fine is determined by the number of offenses in a player’s career.
The Steelers were the most-fined team in the NFL in 2022, racking up $196,480 in supplementary discipline. Kwon Alexander’s $43,709 fine in the preseason, combined with two fines in Week 1, already has them headed toward that direction once again in 2023.
Neal finished the game with five tackles in his first game with the Steelers after joining the club in free agency this offseason. Kuntz did not record any statistics.