Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon is getting fined by the NFL.
Here’s the funny part: He’s getting in trouble for something someone else.
After the Texans’ 23-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the league office wasn’t pleased with how several players responded over the perceived errors in officiating on several players.
Multiple Texans, including head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive end Will Anderson Jr., voiced their frustrations about having to be us against the refs” when trying to make tackles.
Texans RB Joe Mixon on the officiating in today’s game:
“Everybody know how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs hands. The whole world see, man.” pic.twitter.com/NZPIlO6YrQ
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) January 19, 2025
Mixon voiced his opinion, telling reporters postgame that when playing at Arrowhead Stadium.
“You can never leave it into the refs’ hands,” Mixon said. “The whole world sees, man, what it is. When it comes down to it, you can never leave it into the refs’ hands. It’s all good, though.”
But the league fined Mixon $25,000 for tweeting postgame: “Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with Chiefs. These officials are trash and bias.”
Here’s the problem. Mixon never posted that to X, formerly known as Twitter. Former Cincinnati Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was the one behind the words.
Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with Chiefs. These officials are
& bias
— T.J. Houshmandzadeh (@housh84) January 18, 2025
Mixon, well within his right, called out the NFL for the fine on social media Wednesday afternoon.
If the league wants to fine Mixon, it could, but that would mean Anderson and several others would likely have to be under the microscope. In the letter sent to Mixon, his direct words also weren’t mentioned, only the tweet that was sent by a player who’s delivering hot takes on FS1.
I’m getting fined by the @nfl for what someone else said. What’s next? I get fined by them for Connor McDavid cross checking an opponent on a @nhl game!
—
Primetime!!!
The NFL could fix the issue right away by rescinding the fine and apologizing to Mixon for a mistake. If it remains steadfast by its mistake, the Pro Bowl running back will appeal the decision.
You can only imagine a simple search on Twitter will solve the problem while embarrassing the league office.