NFL: Skins' RGIII draws a $10K T-shirt fine

At least Robert Griffin III can laugh about his latest run-in with the NFL's fashion police.

The Washington Redskins quarterback cracked a joke Friday about his $10,000 fine for wearing an "Operation Patience" T-shirt before a preseason game.

Griffin was accepting the team's offensive player of the year award at the Redskins' annual Welcome Home Luncheon. He was introduced shortly after an auction that raised money for charity.

"Those auctioneers did a good job," Griffin told the crowd. "I would've given them 10 grand, but the NFL took it away from me this week."

Griffin adopted "Operation Patience" as his slogan as he slowly increased his practice work during training camp after major knee surgery. He wore a white T-shirt with those words in capital burgundy letters as he warmed up before Monday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The NFL said the T-shirt was "unauthorized apparel."

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he doesn't need to send a message to his team about holding onto the football.

Belichick said he's been telling his players that since May - "ad nauseum."

The Patriots fumbled three times in Thursday night's 40-9 exhibition loss to the Detroit Lions. Quarterback Tom Brady also had an interception.

Belichick said in a conference call with reporters that there was no need to send a message to the players who fumbled. Running backs Shane Vereen and Brandon Bolden and tight end Zach Sudfeld all coughed up the ball.

Retired NFL linebacker and new televison analyst Ray Lewis was known for his fiery pregame speeches, attempting to pump his Baltimore Raven teammates up for 60 minutes of football.

While some could argue what the speeches really did for the team, one person who didn't quite understand them was quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.

In an interview with ESPN the Magazine, Flacco said that he is taking on more of a leadership role this season, but not the way that Lewis did it.

"That's not me," Flacco said. "I love Ray, and I love how he always spoke from the heart, but if you listened to those speeches, a lot of them didn't even make sense. He meant everything he was saying, but I didn't know what he was talking about 90 percent of the time."

Houston coach Gary Kubiak says the NFL has upheld defensive end Antonio Smith's three-game suspension.

Smith was suspended Wednesday for the last two preseason games and Houston's season opener for hitting Miami guard Richie Incognito with the Dolphins player's helmet.

Smith appealed the suspension, but his appeal was denied Friday.

- Inquirer wire services