Johnny Hekker not fined for Week 6 head butt of Dolphins LB Cameron Goode

Johnny Hekker’s now-infamous “head butt” won’t result in a slap on the wrist.

As reported by Joe Person of The Athletic on Saturday afternoon, the NFL will not fine the Carolina Panthers punter for making contact with Miami Dolphins linebacker Cameron Goode last Sunday. The head butt in question came during the team’s Week 6 loss:

What a flop pic.twitter.com/5s3tMNKdTo

— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) October 15, 2023

This is, obviously, great news for Hekker—who refused to even classify the bump as a head butt.

“It was not a head-butt,” he said with a laugh after the game. “There was no malintent. It was a moment where I was just walkin’ up and havin’ further conversation with the guy after the play. Got close, maybe got baited a little bit. And he flopped back and fell backwards and took the ref out in the process. The ref took offense to that, threw the flag.

“Put myself in a bad situation. Really, I gotta own that. It was nothing worth pursuing. The play was dead and over. There was no reason to go back after guys. It’s frustration in the moment and you gotta do like when you’re taught like a kid—just walk away. You just gotta walk away.”

Well, now he’ll be walking away without an expensive tab.