Report: Former Florida OL Maurkice Pouncey will be fined by NFL for arm wrestling tournament
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The No Fun League strikes again.
According to USA Today Sports, former Florida OL Maurkice Pouncey will be among the 30 players fined by the NFL for taking part in a recent arm wrestling tournament. The “Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship” was held last week (April 5-9) at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, which violates the league’s strict anti-gambling policy forbidding players from participating in any events at casinos.
The league’s policy could seemingly prove problematic with the Oakland Raiders franchise recent decision to move the team to Sin City. As for the arm wrestling tournament, the league says it’s on players like Pouncey for not asking prior to participating.
“Had we been asked in advance if this was acceptable, we would have indicated that it was in direct violation of the gambling policy,” Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president for communications and public affairs, told USA TODAY Sports. “No one sought pre-approval.”
Pouncey played at Florida for three years, including the Gators’ 2008 national championship season. He skipped his senior season to enter the 2010 NFL Draft and was selected No. 18 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
