John McKay Is Fined Heavily for Damaging NFL’s ‘Integrity’

Former Coach John McKay has been heavily fined by the National Football League for ordering Tampa Bay to allow the New York Jets to score at will so his star tailback could try for an NFL record.

The fine, believed to be the largest ever against an NFL coach, was levied by Commissioner Pete Rozelle for McKay’s actions in Tampa Bay’s 41-21 victory Dec. 16--the last day of the 1984 season.

The New York Daily News said Saturday that it had learned from sources close to Rozelle that McKay was fined between $5,000 and $10,000 last month for damaging the “integrity of the league.”

League spokesman Joe Browne declined Saturday to quote an exact figure but called the fine “substantial.”

“It’s believed to be the largest for this type of thing,” he said. “I don’t know if there is any precedent for this type of action where a team allows another club to score,” Brown said. “I don’t recollect any fine for this type of offense.”

McKay, who is now the team’s president, instructed his defense to permit the Jets to score with 1:21 left in the game, the Buccaneers ahead, 41-14, and tailback James Wilder needing 15 yards to match Eric Dickerson’s single-season total yardage record of 2,444.

New York’s Johnny Hector then scored against a defense that didn’t make a move toward him with 54 seconds left. The move gave Wilder a chance to try for the necessary yardage for the record, but the Jet defense held Wilder to no yards on three carries.

“Our players wanted the record so badly,” McKay said after the game. “This would be the last time that I, as coach, could do anything for them. I went with the people who meant most to me.”

But Wilder said at last month’s Pro Bowl game in Honolulu: “I didn’t like it at all. If I have to set a record that way, I don’t want it.”

The News, quoting an unnamed source in Tampa, said team owner Hugh Culverhouse has told Rozelle he would pay the fine.

Neither McKay nor Culverhouse could be reached by telephone for comment Saturday in Tampa.

Browne said that shortly after the game, Rozelle’s office “contacted McKay and asked him to explain the circumstances. He did, and after receiving McKay’s letter, the commissioner levied the fine.”

McKay defended his actions, insisting he had done what Tampa players and fans at Tampa Stadium wanted--he gave Wilder another chance to break the mark.

“I’m sorry about the furor, but what could I do?” McKay said in December. “Somebody was sure to walk away angry, the Jets or our players and Tampa fans. If I had a choice, I’d rather make them mad in New York than here in the town where I live and work.”

“We realize the dilemma he felt he was in,” Browne told the News. “But any action that causes the public to think less than 100% effort is being given is damaging.”

Jet Coach Joe Walton had said after the game: “I thought it was a total embarrassment to the NFL. It will set the league back 20 years.”

Jim Kensil, the Jet president, said he was satisfied with the commissioner’s action.

“Any time a team gives less than its best, it’s detrimental to the game. It’s good for everybody he got fined,” Kensil said.