Jets' Shaun Ellis Fined for Throwing Snowball in Stands After Sunday Loss

The National Football League has fined New York Jets' defensive end Shaun Ellis $10,000 for throwing a large chunk of snow into the stands after their 13-3 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle this past Sunday.

Seattle fans threw snowballs at Jets players and staff on the sidelines during the game. Eric Mangini and several players said that the situation was unsafe.

Ellis said Tuesday, "It was all in fun."

Mangini said, "That situation in the stadium in general was not a very safe situation for anybody involved. That doesn't justify us getting involved in it on the flip side of that. He understands that. We thought there could have been more done to prevent what was happening in terms of the safety from snowballs coming down."

Video of Ellis throwing the snow was captured on a cellphone, and the video was posted online Monday. It doesn't appear that anyone was hurt in the video.

In a statement, the NFL said, "Players are notified prior to each season that any contact with fans that potentially presents crowd-control issues and risk of injury is prohibited. In addition, players are informed that they must not confront fans at any time on game day and must leave those types of issues to security personnel."

This is the second time in a month Ellis has been in hot water. In November he was arrested for marijuana possession and was fined by the team.