The NFL fined Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott $13,369 on Saturday for placing both money and teammate Dak Prescott in the red Salvation Army kettle in their 31-23 victory over the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving Day, according to the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
Elliott, after scoring on a 16-yard run early in the first quarter, grabbed $21 dollars from a man on the sidelines and "donated" it to the Salvation Army -- which has its signature red kettle on the Cowboys sideline during the holiday season -- by throwing it into the kettle.
Elliott went back to the kettle early in the fourth quarter, too, after Prescott scrambled into the end zone. After celebrating, Elliott picked up Prescott and dropped him into the kettle.
Celebrating with the kettle is nothing new for Elliott. In 2016 during his rookie season, Elliott jumped into it himself after scoring a touchdown, though he wasn't fined.
The Saints took a page out of Elliott's playbook Thursday when they took on the Cowboys in Dallas, too. After Marshon Lattimore recovered a fumble in the second quarter, he sprinted to the end zone, reached into his pants and pulled out $23 -- his jersey number. Lattimore threw it into the kettle, one-upping Elliott in their 13-10 loss to the Cowboys.
As much as the NFL may try to stop it by fining players, it's not likely that the Salvation Army kettle celebrations will come to an end anytime soon in Dallas. Not only has owner Jerry Jones said he loves it, and has even offered to pick up the tab on any fines, but it's drawing attention to a great cause.
Mystery solved
In the aftermath of the Dallas' 13-10 victory over New Orleans on Thursday night, suspicions emerged in connection with images showing a person in Cowboys gear with a headset and a cell phone on the New Orleans sideline. And, yes, the Saints were suspicious.
The Cowboys explained it this way, according to Mike Florio on Profootballtalk.nbcsports.com:
"It's a member of the game day entertainment staff. He stands next to the 'green hat' who is the network TV person who works with the officials to coordinate TV timeouts. His job is to communicate to our internal video board people when a TV time out is coming and how much time is left in that timeout as they come out of a break. He does not stand in the team bench area. They stand just outside the bench area on that side of the field."
The image that was tweeted shows the person close to Saints Coach Sean Payton, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the person was in the bench area. The Cowboys insist that the employee would never enter the bench area, toward the middle of the sideline.
If the Cowboys were going to engage in any type of spy operation, it definitely would be unusual for the guy to be wearing a polo shirt bearing the team's logo.
The NFL has not responded to a request for comment regarding the situation, according to Florio.
A similar incident occurred in 2015, when the Jets instigated a sideline interrogation of Kraft Sports employees during a game against the Patriots. Those employees were also responsible for in-stadium entertainment, and one was responsible for providing batteries to the referee's wireless microphone.
QUIZ
Where did New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore play college football?
ANSWER
Lattimore played for Ohio State from 2015-17.
Sports on 12/03/2018