Cowboys O-lineman draws curious fine for Week 18 moment that penalized Commanders

“Big-Time Brock” has drawn a big-time fine… for something that seemed awfully small when it went down in the Cowboys’ season-finale loss.

Brock Hoffman, starting at right guard since the late-November injury to Zack Martin, is being fined $5,472 for unsportsmanlike conduct following a fairly innocuous play in the Cowboys’ Week 18 meeting with Washington.

The moment came just two minutes into the second quarter, on Brandon Aubrey’s 41-yard field goal that put Dallas up 6-0. After the kick sailed through the uprights, officials threw a penalty flag and called Commanders defensive end Daron Payne for unnecessary roughness.

Replays showed Payne had taken a swing at Hoffman’s head as the two untangled themselves from their blocking duties. What Hoffman might have done is mysteriously unclear.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott gave the 6-foot-4-inch offensive lineman the nickname “Big-Time Brock” last season, saying, “He’s kind of an enforcer in that group, a guy that has a lot of attitude, huge passion for this game, wears it everyday. You can see it.”

But it’s tough to see what, if anything, Hoffman did to incite Payne’s vicious reaction on this play.

Even more bizarrely, Payne’s punch- egregious enough to cost the Commanders 15 yards during the game- did not incur a monetary fine at all for the veteran defender. Only Hoffman was docked for whatever happened.

Hoffman can appeal the fine, but the moment that will likely cost him over five thousand bucks drew far more attention for what happened after the 15 yards were walked off.

The penalty on Payne put the Cowboys’ ensuing kickoff at the 50. Due to the rules of the new dynamic kickoff, a kick landing out of bounds would be advantageous, pinning Washington at their own 25 after the penalty yardage. Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel instructed Aubrey to do exactly that, but Aubrey’s purposely-errant boot ended up striking Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad member Michelle Siemienowski in the back of the head as she performed on the sideline.

Aubrey sent an handwritten apology to Siemienowski after the game; the rookie cheerleader laughed off the incident, explaining she was fine.

Out of everyone involved, it seems Hoffman will end up getting the worst of the moment, with a sizable hit right to the wallet… even though it’s hard to say why.