Ravens: James Proche responds to unsportsmanlike conduct fine

Few players did more to impress this summer than Baltimore Ravens wide receiver James Proche. Proche entered the summer on the roster bubble, but quickly made the most of his opportunities.

His impressive training camp was followed up by a strong finish to the preseason including a four-catch, 52-yard performance in the final exhibition game of the summer.

In that game, Proche made a leaping highlight-reel reception over Washington cornerback Darryl Roberts for a touchdown. It was one of the highlights of the summer for Baltimore, and Proche got a little excited staring down Roberts after the play.

While the incident didn’t draw a flag at the time, Proche was later fined $4,567 by the NFL. Meanwhile, his teammate, Tylan Wallace, who was flagged for his own celebration, wasn’t actually fined.

The NFL’s crack-down on unsportsmanlike conduct continued and Proche was the Ravens’ first victim of an actual fine. This, of course, was despite the fact that he wasn’t even flagged on the play.

Ravens WR James Proche responded to his questionable fine

Proche at least found some humor in this responding to the fine in entertaining fashion.

Proche suggested that he could be setting up a GoFundMe in response to the NFL’s fine. The 2020 sixth-round pick is hardly the first to get hit with a questionable fine by the NFL this summer.

Indianapolis Colts running back Benny LeMay was fined after showing the slightest bit of emotion following a monster run in his team’s first preseason game.

Proche is the first Ravens player to receive a fine for any unsportsmanlike conduct in a game. But given the way the NFL has been enforcing this penalty, it seems unlikely that he’s the last.

It will be interesting to see how the NFL implements these new rules once the regular season starts.

But at least for now, it’s nice to see Proche having a little fun with it.