No fines for Rams players' salute [View all]

[kpete]

Source: ESPN

The five Rams players who entered the field before Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders in St. Louis with their hands in the air in "don't shoot" poses will not be fined for their actions, NFL and team sources tell ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

AP Photo/L.G. Patterson
The Rams players who raised their arms during pregame introductions as a salute to nearby Ferguson, Missouri, will not be fined by the league.

The players had used the team's pregame introductions to offer a show of support for nearby Ferguson. As the Rams' offense was introduced, tight end Jared Cook and receivers Kenny Britt, Stedman Bailey, Chris Givens and Tavon Austin stopped near the tunnel and raised their hands in a nod to the fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Some witnesses said Brown had his hands up before being shot. Wilson, who is white, testified to the grand jury that Brown had hit him and reached for his gun.

The St. Louis Police Officers Association called for the players involved to be disciplined and for the Rams and the NFL to deliver a "very public apology," its statement read in part.

"I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights," SLPOA business manager Jeff Roorda said in the statement. "Well, I've got news for people who think that way: Cops have First Amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours. I'd remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertiser's products. It's cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do. Somebody needs to throw a flag on this play. If it's not the NFL and the Rams, then it'll be cops and their supporters."

Read more: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11963218/the-five-st-louis-rams-players-saluted-slain-teenager-michael-brown-sunday-game-not-fined