New England's Julian Edelman picks up a fine for throwing ball into crowd

A regulation NFL football would cost you about $100 at a sporting-goods store. New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman gave one away and it cost him a $5,512 fine from the NFL.

There's more to it than that, but it's just going to leave you confused.

The Boston Globe's Ben Volin did a great job explaining why Edelman got the fine. It's not the report that's confusing, it's (like many things) the way the NFL arbitrarily administers these penalties sometimes.

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Edelman was fined the random amount for throwing a ball into the stands after an 84-yard punt return against the Denver Broncos last week. Not every player who throws a ball into the stands gets fined. Volin wrote that Patriots running back Shane Vereen threw a ball into the stands earlier this year, and wasn't fined. Players who just hand a ball to a fan, as we see regularly, aren't fined.

So what gives? Basically, the NFL doesn't want fans in the stands fighting for a ball. There's a safety issue there. Fines can discourage that. And, from Volin, if the NFL can't check the aftermath of what happens after the ball goes into the stands, the player might avoid the fine. Huh?

If the NFL doesn't have video of where the ball lands or any sort of scrum, the player may not get fined. Seems to be what happened w/Vereen

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) November 7, 2014

That seems a little strange. The next time Edelman wants to throw the ball into the crowd, he should pick a spot where the cameras won't find the scrum to get the ball. Then the league won't fine him, apparently.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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