National Football League

Bears S Venable fined $20,000

Published Sep. 9, 2011 11:00 p.m. ET

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Chicago Bears safety Winston Venable will appeal a $20,000 fine he received Friday for a preseason hit on Cleveland wide receiver Demetrius Williams.

The fine is only $2,000 less than Venable makes per week as an undrafted rookie free agent.

Venable says he hasn't seen the replay yet, but found a photo showing the hit was legal. Venable drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on the play in the Sept. 1 preseason finale.

''There's a picture that I saw that definitely looked like I didn't hit him with my head, kind of maybe like shoulder to shoulder,'' he said. ''But who knows? Maybe they thought he was a defenseless player; no one really explained it at the time.''

The play occurred early in the fourth quarter. Williams went up in the air and was hit by Venable as the ball arrived.

If the fine holds up, Venable could be allowed to pay it back over a period of time instead of all at once.

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