Brian: Image Schmimage

What angle is the NFL trying to play here?

That is the only question I can ask myself after its latest punishment. Richard Seymour was only fined $25,000 for his punch of Ben Roethlisberger. That's it?

Jerome Harrison has been fined $150,000 for his helmet to helmet hits this season. Offensive tackled David Stewart was fined $20,000 for an unnecessary roughness penalty. LaMarr Woodley was fined $12,500 for a questionable roughing the passer penalty.

Those were all fines for playing the game of football aggressively. Some of those fines seem a bit much, and some of the fined penalties were questionable. Either way, the players were fined for things done between the whistles.

Seymour's punch was after a play and was blatantly obvious. And all he got was a $25,000 fine? Roger Goodell has repeatedly stated that he is trying to clean up the image of the NFL, rightfully suspending players for actions off the field. But what about actions on the field, in front of millions of viewers? Tons of people saw the punch and it was instantly uploaded on YouTube, and shown dozens of times of Sports Center.

Goodell has never shyed away from laying down harsh punishment for things that have been very publicly seen. Seymour should have been fined AND suspended for what he did. Throwing a punch in a game is a very immature way to handle yourself, and doesn't reflect well on the NFL. So why not suspend him and send a message that players need to control themselves during games?

If I was making millions of dollars each game, and new that I would only get fined $25,000 for decking someone, what is to stop me from doing it if I feel the situation calls for it? Plenty of NFL players would punch other players if they knew the penalty wouldn't be steep.

And now they know it won't. Good job Goodell on condemning aggressive play during the game, but, in a round-a-bout way, making a statement that it's not that bad to punch someone in the face.

So much for a complete image turnaround for the NFL.