{"id":1122,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1122","headline":"Bills' Franklin gets suspension overturned, fined instead","dek":"The special-teams captain won his appeal over an alleged spitting incident against the Raiders, but will still pay $14,900.","body":"Sam Franklin Jr. will play in Week 8 after all. The Bills safety and special teams captain appealed his one-game suspension stemming from an alleged spitting incident during Buffalo's win over the Raiders in Week 6, and that appeal succeeded. Instead of sitting out, Franklin has been fined $14,900.\n\nThe incident in question came in the fourth quarter, when Franklin and Raiders tackle DJ Glaze got tangled up after Glaze delivered a low shot to Franklin. Franklin confronted Glaze, who then signaled to an official that he had been spat on. Franklin has consistently denied spitting at anyone, and video of the exchange was unclear enough that it was tough to confirm what actually happened.\n\nFranklin's case stands in contrast to teammate C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was ejected in the second quarter of that same game for spitting toward Raiders tight end Brock Bowers. Gardner-Johnson apologized afterward but was officially suspended. With Franklin's suspension reduced to a fine, the Bills now may only be without Gardner-Johnson among their defensive backs when they face the Ravens in Week 8.","published_at":"2026-10-24T21:50:56.224417+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Buffalo Bills: Special-Teams Ace Wins Appeal, Fined $14,900","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/buffalo-bills-special-teams-ace-201551288.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Bills' Franklin wins appeal, suspension for spitting reduced to fine","url":"https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50258709/bills-franklin-wins-appeal-suspension-spitting-overturned"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"Bills S Sam Franklin's suspension for spitting is reduced to a fine after appeal","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bills-s-sam-franklins-suspension-for-spitting-is-reduced-to-a-fine-after-appeal"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Bills DB Gardner-Johnson's suspension for spitting stands after appeal","url":"https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/50249466/bills-db-cj-gardner-johnson-suspension-stands-appeal"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bills S Sam Franklin's suspension for spitting is reduced to a fine after appeal","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bills-sam-franklins-suspension-spitting-162837003.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bills' DB gets good news from NFL as suspension for spitting changed to $14,926 fine","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bills-db-gets-good-news-163504782.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"NFL reduces punishment Bills DB Sam Franklin Jr. received for allegedly spitting, changes 1-game suspension to fine","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nfl-reduces-punishment-bills-db-sam-franklin-jr-received-for-allegedly-spitting-changes-1-game-suspension-to-fine-164141360.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bills' Sam Franklin wins appeal of one-game spitting suspension, has it reduced to a fine","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bills-sam-franklin-wins-appeal-171448488.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"NFL rescinds Buffalo Bills defender's one-game spitting suspension","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nfl-rescinds-buffalo-bills-defenders-190058686.html"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Bills’ Sam Franklin gets spitting suspension overturned after winning appeal","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/23/sports/bills-sam-franklin-gets-spitting-suspension-overturned-reduced-to-fine-after-winning-appeal/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bills S Sam Franklin’s suspension decreased to $14,926 fine for spitting incident","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bills-sam-franklin-suspension-decreased-002540828.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Bills’ Sam Franklin gets spitting suspension overturned after winning appeal","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bills-sam-franklin-gets-spitting-002508732.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://nbcsports.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/77d0490/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1920x1080!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhdliveextra-a.akamaihd.net%2FHD%2Fimage_sports%2FNBCU_Sports_Group_-_nbcsports%2F1%2F347%2Fnbc_pft_gardnerjohnsonsuspension_261020.jpg","credit":"Pro Football Talk","width":1920},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. 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