Defensive end Ray Edwards received a $25,000 fine for his late hit on Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia and a leg-whip on an offensive lineman two weeks ago. Speaking in the locker room Monday, Edwards addressed the fine for the first time and he didn’t hide his frustration.

“We signed up to play this game,” he said. “Football didn’t choose us, we chose it. No offense to women but men don’t wear panties. We chose to play this game. We don’t cry when we get cracked unexpectedly. That fine is what it is. Just got to go out there and play ball and have fun.

“I appealed it. That’s ridiculous. One is a leg-whip, which I’ve never heard of. OK, I can respect the first one. I hit Garcia a little late. Even during that play I told him, ‘My bad. I thought you still had the ball.’ He was running around like a rabbit so I didn’t know if he had the ball still or not.”

Edwards joined the growing number of players who have argued that fines have become excessive.

“That’s how we feel and pretty much we feel it’s slanted toward the defense,” he said. “Hines Ward didn’t get fined for breaking somebody’s jaw. I watched [Kyle] Vanden Bosch tapes when they played against Houston. It was during a pass he got cracked by a tight end. I bet that tight end didn’t get fined $25,000 for that crack. To me, it’s getting outrageous just because I feel it’s slanted more toward the defense than it is the offense.”

Edwards described the leg-whip.

“It was a bootleg and I was holding the tight end up,” he said. “I got around the tight end and I jumped in the air. The tight end pushed me on my back. [The quarterback] had thrown the ball. As I fell my legs hit his legs and he fell over the top of me. Yeah. It’s not like I jumped in the air and intentionally tried to drop-kick him or something like WWF. But it happens so I have to appeal it and see what I can get out of it.

“Like I said football didn’t choose us, we chose it. If you didn’t want to get hit, you should go play soccer. No, soccer is kind of brutal too. Maybe baseball or water polo or something like that.”

Does it change the way he approaches game?

“Not at all,” he said. “If you go out there passive-aggressive, that’s when bad things happen to you. You just have to go out there and play ball and have fun. If you get a fine, you get a fine and you have to pay it. Hopefully you can appeal it and win it … Not. But hopefully you can appeal it and get some of the money back. If not, it’s going to charity so it’s a good cause. But you don’t want charity to be your pocket. I’m just saying we play this game to have fun, hit people, take out aggression and just have fun. We’re not playing to try and hurt anybody.

“This is what we’ve been doing since we were little kids most of us. That’s how we make our living and take care of our families. That’s the hard part about getting fined. It’s taking food out of your family’s mouth.”

Edwards on defensive end Jared Allen, who has been fined $80,000 this season: “His pay grade is a little bit higher than mine. I don’t know if that’s how they’re fining us or what. But to me the fines are just getting ridiculous.” 

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