The Kansas City Chiefs had their third straight win well in hand on Monday night, when backup linebacker Jack Cochrane intercepted a pass from Washington Commanders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota to effectively end the game with 0:22 left on the clock.
But that’s when things started to get out of hand, largely thanks to Kansas City’s seven-year veteran defensive end Charles Omenihu, who for some reason felt compelled to slam Mariota to the ground on the Commanders’ sideline.
Now, Omenihu can only wait until Saturday when the NFL announces its weekly disciplinary actions. Unsportsmanlike conduct penalties are often, though not always, followed up with a further punishment from the league office.
Unsportsmanlike Penalty Invites Fine
The penalty Omenihu — playing on a one-year, $4 million contract and looking at free agency after the season — drew for unsportsmanlike conduct was as justified as it was pointless on Omenihu’s part.
Commanders player development coach Pete Ohnegian took offense to Omenihu’s obviously late hit and confronted the Chiefs defensive end, actually making contact with Omenihu briefly.
The penalty was Omenihu’s fourth of the season, including a face mask call in Week 2, also in the fourth quarter, against the Philadelphia Eagles. Omenihu was not fined for that offense, however.
Not Worst Punishment Ever For Omenihu
Will the Chiefs’ defender be slapped with a further punishment for the incident on Monday? Given the blatant and gratuitous nature of the hit on Mariota some further discipline should be expected, especially with the NFL’s emphasis on protecting quarterbacks from unnecessary hits.
Interestingly, no flag was thrown for the incident between Omenihu and Ohnegian. But that does not mean that it could not draw a fine, for the player or the coach. NFL officials say they review every play from each game to make independent determinations as whether fines or other disciplinary measures are merited.
Assuming that Omenihu does receive a fine for the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, as his first call of the year for that specific penalty, he can expect to write a check to the league for $14,491. If he is also fined over the physical confrontation with the Commanders’ assistant coach, the amount of his disciplinary assessment could be significant.
But that would not be the worst punishment Omenihu has ever absorbed from the league. In 2023, the 2019 Houston Texans fifth-round draft pick was hit with a six-game suspension for violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Previous Domestic Violence Suspension
The suspension derived from an incident in January of 2023 when police were called to Omenihu’s home in San Jose, California, where they placed him under arrest in connection with a domestic violence allegation.
According to an Associated Press report on the incident, “a woman who said she was Omenihu’s girlfriend told officers at the time that he had ‘pushed her to the ground during an argument,’ though there were no visible injuries and she declined medical treatment.”
Omenihu was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. But he played in the AFC championship game six days after the arrest — a game in which the Chiefs lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime.