By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The referees in the Eagles-Cowboys game last Sunday were absolutely awful. Clete Blakeman and his crew made so many terrible calls against both teams that it warranted the league taking action. Blakeman was the referee leading the “All-Star” crew that got switched to the Chiefs-Rams game a few weeks back.
Eagles fans were focused on two major calls that benefited the Cowboys: a fumble and recovery that was called neither a fumble nor a recovery on the field and failed when challenged and an offensive pass interference on Dallas Goedert that took a touchdown off the board. The calls were so bad, Malcolm Jenkins spoke to the media following the game. He said:
“That was a pretty terrible call. They reviewed it and the explanation I got was that it wasn’t a clear recovery, although Kamu [Grugier-Hill] had the ball in his hand and there was only Eagles defenders on the ball in replay. So whoever’s watching that in New York should stay off the bottle.”
Action had previously been taken against awful refereeing earlier this season when a referee had missed an offside during the Browns-Chargers game and allowed a touchdown on the board. Apparently, if you make terrible calls all game instead of just one, the NFL pays no mind.
Clete Blakeman game the same terrible excuse for not overturning the call on the fumble recovery after the game. What action did the NFL take about this utter incompetence?
Why, fine Malcolm Jenkins for speaking the truth, of course.
Tim McManus of 97.5 The Fanatic reported on Saturday night that Jenkins was fined $12,500 for his comments after the game.
Malcolm Jenkins was fined $12,500 for his comments after Sunday's game against the Cowboys where he suggested the refs stay off the bottle.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 15, 2018
While Eagles fans were outraged, Jenkins and teammate Rasul Douglas had a but of fun with the news.
Was it something I said!? 🤷🏾♂️ 🗣 https://t.co/QWsbaLktHF
— Malcolm Jenkins (@MalcolmJenkins) December 15, 2018
Are they sure it was @MalcolmJenkins because it was def a lot of people in that locker room . 👀🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/4mj01GxxOj
— rasul (@rd32_era) December 15, 2018
Eagles fans responded quickly with at least three GoFundMe pages dedicated to paying off Malcolm’s fine. Ever the class act and connected with the fans, Jenkins quickly let everyone know that such an act was unnecessary and that they should instead consider contributing to his charity – the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation.
.@Eagles fans I appreciate all of the support. I don’t need Gofundme pages and all that. But if you wanna help let’s raise DOUBLE what I was fined by the @nfl for my charity! @TheMJFoundation DONTATE HERE: https://t.co/YUjOepaAgK #FlyEaglesFly #Givingback
— Malcolm Jenkins (@MalcolmJenkins) December 15, 2018
The move is a wise one and really turned the whole situation around. Instead of the NFL simply fining a player for speaking the truth, Jenkins took the situation in stride and used the fine as a platform to improve charitable giving and goodwill. It’s not everyday you find a player capable of doing something like that so quickly and easily.
