The NFL has reportedly rescinded the fine issued to Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith last month for his tackle on Chris Godwin that ended up dislocating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver’s ankle.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Smith appealed the $16,833 fine and Jordy Nelson, one of the NFL’s four appeals officers, ruled in his favor.
The tackle that ended Godwin’s season was investigated by the league for being of the hip-drop variety, which was banned during the offseason.
NFL rules state that a hip-drop tackle must involve a player grabbing “the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.”
Godwin was injured in the final minute of their Week 7 game. Smith and another Ravens defender ran at Godwin, who was trying to get a first down, and it was Smith who ended up dropping Godwin to the ground.
It was immediately obvious after the play that Godwin was in a lot of pain, and he was eventually carted off the field.
Godwin, a potential free agent in 2025, underwent surgery on the ankle and will miss the remainder of the season.
Smith was issued the fine days after when the league determined it was a hip-drop, despite not being flagged in-game.
This is the second instance this season that Smith appealed a fine and won. He was docked $16,833 for a horse-collar tackle during the opening game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but later had that fine rescinded.
