September 13 — A slap to the face of an opponent will be costly for Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Teair Tart, ESPN reported Friday.
The NFL has reportedly fined Tart for his open-handed shot to the facemask of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce last week, when the Chargers beat the Chiefs 27-21 in São Paulo.
A first offense for striking carries a $12,172 fine under league rules. The fine is expected to be officially announced Saturday, per standard NFL in-season procedure.
In the third quarter, Kelce and Tart were still grappling after a play had ended. Kelce pushed down on Tart’s left arm to free himself, and Tart stepped forward and delivered a hard shot that snapped Kelce’s head back.
Tart was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness but not ejected — likely because he used an open hand rather than a fist.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid questioned the decision this week.
“I don’t understand that rule,” Reid said. “I guess it’s open-hand, fist, whatever. I don’t know what their decision was on that. But he definitely got hit in the head pretty hard, whether it was an open fist or a closed fist.”
Tart, 28, recorded one tackle in the game. He is in his sixth NFL season and second with the Chargers. In 65 career games (37 starts), he has 3.5 sacks, 109 tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and 11 passes defensed.
