John Wendling Fined For Hit On Alex Smith

Detroit Lions safety John Wendling received a $7,875 fine for leading with his forearm on sliding quarterback Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers in their Sunday Night Football matchup in Week 2 of the NFL regular season. Wendling did not get penalized on the play. The 49ers ended up winning 27-19.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee has the story on the fine and included a quote from Smith on the punishment.

Said Smith after the game: "I looked up, saw the flag and thought for sure it was a personal foul call, but all of a sudden we were backed up and it was a holding call. I was pretty stunned we didn't get that call."

By contrast, the NFL fined Smith almost twice as much for wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap that failed to meet league standards; he was punished with a $15,000 fine for not matching up to the NFL's dress conduct code. In what appeared to be a show of solidarity, Giants manager Bruce Bochy wore a 49ers cap and Giants players wore 49ers gear after their victory over the Colorado Rockies.

49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh had this to say about Bochy's act.

When he was asked about Bochy's gesture today, Jim Harbaugh said, "I thought it was tremendous. Tremendous, tremendous."

Talk about the punishment with Lions fans at Pride of Detroit, and with 49ers fans at Niners Nation.

This story was originally published on SBNation.com.