Jon Runyan, the NFL’s vice president of policy and rules administration, will earn overtime pay this week thanks to the Raiders and Chargers. And the league’s charities will be a lot richer than they were prior to Jim Harbaugh’s first game as Chargers head coach.
With 3:47 remaining in Sunday’s game, Justin Herbert hit Ladd McConkey for a 10-yard touchdown, giving Los Angeles a 22-10 advantage. Then, after the Raiders stuffed J.K. Dobbins on the ensuing two-point attempt, Hollywood could’ve filmed a scene from a Braveheart sequel.
Officials ejected Raiders starting cornerback Jack Jones and Chargers starting wide receiver Joshua Palmer for fighting. But those players will be the easy fines for Runyan. He’ll earn his money combing through film to identify every player and non-player who left the bench and engaged in the fight.
According to the league’s 2024 accountability and fine schedule, Runyan can assess fines for fighting of $39,501 for a first offense and $79,004 for a second, should either Jones or Palmer have a history. Players leaving the bench area during a fight are subject to $11,817 fines for a first offense and $17,445 for a second. Suspensions are also a possibility. The league generally informs the players of their fines late in the week following their games.
Clearly, the teams and their fans carry a unique level of loathing for each other. Las Vegas embarrassed the Chargers, 63-21, in their prior meeting Dec. 14 at Allegiant Stadium. And after reports that the Raiders and their heavy Los Angeles fanbase would significantly outnumber Chargers fans at SoFi Stadium, several videos of fans fighting appeared on social media, including these from @LilJCMusic, @raiderthanos81, @jaggercdrury and @premefootball. And per @_MLFootball, some of the fan fights occurred in the stands shortly after the players began fighting on the field.
The Inglewood Police Department and Inglewood Courthouse will be busy as well.
The Chargers and Raiders are playing bookend games this year. They won’t meet again until Jan. 5 in Las Vegas, their regular-season finale.