Frank Gore was fined for having low socks in the NFC Championship game, more than Tom Brady was hit with a $10,000 fine for his slide on Ed Reed.
Frank Gore was trying to be fashionable for the NFC championship game by wearing low socks, instead he will have a bit of a lighter wallet.
According to ESPN.com, the NFL has fined Gore $10,500 for wearing his socks to low in San Francisco's 28-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. This was the second time Gore has been fined this season.
"Yeah, I'll be cool. It's all good," Gore said Wednesday to ESPN.com. "I was wrong. Next time, I'll do better."
Gore said he was so focused on the game that he did not give his uniform much attention. In a photo on ESPN.com, Gore can be seen with his socks down near his cleats.
"When you're playing, you don't think about it," Gore said. "You're trying to win."
Gore had a solid game against the Falcons, rushing for 90 yards on 21 carries with tow crucial touchdowns. He had the game-wining touchdown with 8:32 left in the fourth quarter, as the 49ers shut out the Falcons in the second half after going down 17-0 early in the game.
According to ESPN.com, Gore earned $2 million in salary and another $2 million in bonuses for the regular season, with a chance to earn more through incentives.
San Francisco is heading to New Orleans for the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995. It is the first appearance in the game for Gore. The Falcons were expecting quarterback Colin Kaepernick to run the ball a lot during the game after he torched the Packers for an NFL-record 181 yards, but the game plan avoided that and fed the running backs.
"I kind of figured that coming in and they showed that on film, so I assumed Frank and LaMichael (James) were going to have a big day," Kaepernick said Sunday. "Frank ran hard today, and I can't say enough about him."
Gore had one of his best seasons for the 49ers in 2012, rushing for 1,214 yards and eight touchdowns. He has scored three touchdowns in two playoff games and had 119 yards on the ground against the Cardinals.
According to ESPN.com, "The NFL's postseason salary scale for this season goes as follows: $20,000 for the wild-card round ($22,000 for division winners); $22,000 for the divisional round; $40,000 for the conference championship round; $44,000 for losing the Super Bowl; and $88,000 for winning the Super Bowl."
Gore was not the only player fined for his actions on championship Sunday.
According to NFL.com, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was fined for his slide that made contact with Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed. Reporter Ian Rapoport tweeted on Wednesday night: "#Patriots QB Tom Brady was fined $10,000 for unnecessary roughness in the AFC championship game, I'm told. Came on the Ed Reed slide."
The play occurred late in the first half of the game and had Brady slide to the ground to end an impromptu run. The video shows that Brady's right leg went up a few feet off the ground and hit Reed, who was uninjured on the play. Reed said that he did not mention anything to Brady after the play.
Reed said on Tuesday that Brady reached out to him following the game to apologize for the contact.
"I told him -- you know, we talked," Reed told WJZ-FM in Baltimore. "We talked actually not too long ago, we talked on the phone. He actually reached out to me, texted me. I tried to text him back, but the message exploded after 12 seconds, so I had to call him ... and he's just apologized and what not. But I told him, 'You know, it's good, man.'"
Reed's teammate Bernard Pollard came out after the game and said that Brady should be fined for the slide.
"If you want to keep this going in the right direction, everyone should be penalized for their actions," Pollard said Monday. "(Brady) knew what he was doing. It has to go both ways."
Brady wasn't at his best against the Ravens on Sunday, throwing for 320 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions. Brady had one of his best seasons in 2012, throwing for 4,827 yards and 34 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. He completed 63 percent of his passes and threw for six touchdowns over the past three games. This year though, Brady's best wasn't good enough.
