Seahawks, Patriots players fined for Super Bowl brawl

Seattle Seahawks defenders Bruce Irvin and Michael Bennett and New England Patriots tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Michael Hoomanawanui were fined by the NFL on Friday for their roles in a brawl near the end of the Super Bowl last Sunday.

Irvin, who was ejected for being the “instigator,” reportedly received the highest fine: $10,000. The rest were docked $8,268. Those fines are in addition to an $11,025 penalty meted out earlier this week to Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin for an obscene touchdown celebration in the third quarter.

Irvin, Bennett and Gronkowski were fined for “unnecessarily striking an opponent” and Hoomanawanui was penalized for ripping off an opponent’s helmet.

The brawl began when Seattle defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs and New England guard Dan Connolly got into a shoving match after the Patriots ran a kneel-down play to wind down the clock in the final seconds, up 28-24.

Dobbs hit Connolly in the head after the whistle, starting a melee that included Irvin and Gronkowsi.

Bennett then joined the fray, shoving Gronkowski as well. Patriots center Ryan Wendell pushed Irvin out of the way and drove Bennett to the ground in the end zone as Gronkowski engaged Irvin and Dobbs. Other players rushed to try to break up the fight.

Bennett ended up tackling Gronkowski in the end zone and Irvin got into an extended skirmish with Hoomanawanui to conclude the brouhaha.

Irvin was ejected, and the Patriots knelt down one more time to wrap up their fourth Super Bowl title under coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

After the game, Irvin said, “I was protecting a teammate. Emotions flew. I saw somebody hit Mike Bennett, so I went and backed up my brother. I went about it wrong. Emotions were flying high, and I apologize. But if it happened again, I would go protect my teammate. That’s just how it is.”