San Diego Chargers News: Team Fines Eric Weddle For Watching Daughter Perform At Halftime

Many thought that the San Diego Chargers’ season really couldn’t get much worse than being in last place in the AFC West with a 4-11 record. Well, it just did. The relationship between the Chargers and Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle has been strained, to say the least, but the team fining him for staying on the field at halftime to watch his daughter perform is taking it to a new level.

During the Week 15 game against the Miami Dolphins, Weddle stayed on the field at halftime to watch his daughter perform in a halftime dance ceremony. SB Nation is now reporting that the team fined him $10,000 for his actions.

Weddle and his agent, David Canter, had decided not to say anything about the fine an kept quiet since it happened. Well, the San Diego Union Tribune reported on Monday that the Chargers placed Eric Weddle on injured reserve against his wishes, and that was just too much.

The Chargers put him on IR due to suffering a groin injury last week against the Oakland Raiders, and he didn’t think it was bad enough to end his season. Chances are San Diego and Weddle will part ways once the season is over and he becomes an unrestricted free agent. He was hoping to end his career with the Chargers on the field, but being placed on IR nixes that idea.

Once that was done, Weddle’s agent took to Twitter and decided to air a little bit of dirty laundry.

By the way the team fined @weddlesbeard last week for seeing his daughter perform at halftime but we didn’t disclose it BC were classy

— DEC Management (@davidcanter) December 28, 2015

There were a number of other tweets displaying Canter’s anger toward the Chargers, and it’s almost now a given that there will be no saving the relationship. During the offseason, Weddle chose to not attend OTAs in hopes of getting a new contract.

It was revealed by SB Nation back in June that the Chargers had no plans on doing any kind of contract negotiations with Eric Weddle. Fans didn’t understand that and neither did a lot of NFL analysts, but things have been bad since that moment.

Weddle has been with the San Diego Chargers ever since being drafted by them in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He’s twice been a First-team All-Pro, Second-team All-Pro, and three-time Pro Bowler. That’s on top of being the NFL leader in interceptions in 2011.

Both Weddle and quarterback Philip Rivers were entering the final year of their respective contracts in 2015. Back in August, Rivers ended up getting a four-year, $83.25 contract extension and the Chargers simply refused to even negotiate with Weddle.

The All-Pro safety was “stunned” by the fine he received from the Chargers. The team said that Weddle did not advise the team that he planned on staying on the field and received the fine for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

At the time, the Chargers were up 23-0, and no-one actually thought it was a big deal that Weddle stayed up to watch his daughter. No-one realized it was a big deal after the fact either, but that was because the fine was kept quiet.

Now, forcing Weddle onto Injured Reserve was the last straw and his time in San Diego is as good as done.

The San Diego Chargers need to make a lot of changes in the offseason, and it’s expected that they will happen. Still, no-one thought that one of the big changes would be losing a longtime veteran and the leader of the defense in Eric Weddle.

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