Programming note: For all the day’s sports news, tune in to SportsNet Central tonight at 6 p.m., 10:30 and midnight on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has won the first of three appeals to dispute a total of $26,537 in fines levied by the NFL, CSNBayArea.com has learned.
This week, Kaepernick won his appeal for a uniform violation, a source said. The league fined Kaepernick for wearing his pants too high above the knee. The fine for a uniform violation is $5,512.
On Tuesday, Kaepernick plans to appeal a $10,000 fine the league handed down for wearing pink Beats by Dre around his neck at his postgame press conference, the source said. The NFL recently signed a deal with Bose to be the league’s exclusive provider of headphones. Kaepernick posted a photo on Instagram of himself wearing the pink headphones with the caption, "I support breast cancer awareness! My grandma is a survivor!" October is breast cancer awareness month.
Two weeks ago, Kaepernick appealed a $11,025 fine for allegedly using “inappropriate language” in a Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears. Kaepernick is still awaiting a decision on the appeal, the source said.
The official who threw the flag, Laird Hayes, declined to specify what he heard Kaepernick say to Bears defensive end Lamarr Houston on Sept. 14 at Levi's Stadium when contacted by CSNBayArea.com. But Hayes said he detailed Kaepernick’s words in a report he filed with the league.
“He knows what he said,” Hayes said. “It was the right call.”
Hayes disclosed in his report to the league office that Kaepernick used the “N-word,” according to Fox Sports. And after initially saying he did not hear Kaepernick say anything, Houston told the Chicago Tribune he heard Kaepernick use the slur after an interception after Houston patted him on the chest and said, “Nice pass."
Kaepernick initially claimed he did not say anything. After admitting he does “talk on the field,” Kaepernick maintained, “I didn’t say anything racially derogatory to him.”
