New England Patriots: NFL Lays Down the Law on Brandon Meriweather

On Tuesday, the NFL decided to pass out fines to three players who engaged in helmet-to-helmet hits during the Week 6 games. 

One of those players is New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather, who will be fined $50,000. 

Meriweather, a former Miami Hurricane, laid out a blatantly dirty hit on Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap. 

Heap, who was completely defenseless, was going up for a ball thrown by quarterback Joe Flacco, and Meriweather met Heap with a head-butt on the way down. 

The hit was obviously led by Meriweather's head. 

There was no need for Meriweather to hit Heap because the ball had already soared through Heap's hands.

The hit was cheap and dirty, but Meriweather didn't think so: “I just attacked,” Meriweather said after Sunday's game. “I wasn't trying to hit head-to-head contact or injure anybody or play dirty in any kind of way. It just happened.”

Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice president of football operations, spoke with ESPN radio earlier this week and stated the hit was “flagrant” and “egregious.”

The other players who were fined include Atlanta Falcons' Dunta Robinson and Pittsburgh Steelers' James Harrison. 

This article was first seen on Sports Haze.

Tony Santorsa is Sports Haze's AFC East Beat Writer, and you could read more sports stories at www.SportsHaze.com. You can also follow Tony via Twitter @TonySantorsa.