It could have been the most painful one in Seattle sports history. So the Seahawks are hoping Riq Woolen learned his lesson.
He, his coach and his Super Bowl-bound team have moved on.
Yet Woolen is still paying for it.
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The NFL fined Seattle’s 2022 Pro Bowl cornerback $17,389 for taunting Los Angeles Rams players along their sideline following his break-up of a pass by Matthew Stafford late in the third quarter of the NFC championship game last weekend at Lumen Field.
The fine is in line with the NFL’s fines schedule collectively bargained with its players’ union. It is about $6,000 higher than the one Woolen got from the league earlier this season for taunting.
Woolen’s brilliant play closing on the pass and denying All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua the catch for a first down had the Rams preparing to punt while staying down 31-20. The Seahawks were poised to take that two-score lead into the fourth quarter, and thus control of the game late.
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But Woolen followed his play by hopping, prancing and woofin’ at Rams. Some of them yapped back. The official on the sideline repeatedly urged Woolen to go away from the LA. sideline. Woolen continued to talk to the Rams as he walked down the boundary.
That official threw a flag on Woolen for unsportsmanlike conduct, taunting specifically.
“The covering official had him walking toward and into the opponent’s bench, continuing to jaw after repeated efforts by the official to have him turn away and go to his own bench,” referee Clay Martin told NFL pool reporter Brady Henderson of espn.com following the game. “When he chose not to do so, that’s what rose to the level of a foul.”
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Martin said there was nothing specific Woolen said to incur the penalty. “Just continued jawing in the opponent’s bench area after being asked to walk away.”
On the next play after his penalty, Woolen allowed Nacua to get behind him and Stafford’s pass to sail over him for a Rams touchdown. A game that should have been a two-score lead for Seattle entering the final quarter was suddenly 31-27. That set up an excruciating ending. The Seahawks escaped a scoreless fourth quarter to earn their first Super Bowl appearance in 11 years.
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On the sideline after the Rams touchdown over Woolen, rookie Nick Emmanwori angrily confronted Woolen about his penalty. Teammates Coby Bryant and Ernest Jones interceded and played peace-keepers.
Emmanwori later said they are both competitors and were in an ultra-competitive situation, that the fourth-year veteran is a big brother to him.
After the game, Woolen stood at his locker in front of reporters and owned his mistake.
“I made a great play,” he said. “I gotta be better than that, celebrate with my team.
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“And the next play, they scored a touchdown. That wouldn’t have happened if I just celebrate with the team, so I gotta be smarter.
“I got a taunting penalty earlier in the season, so I’ve gotta be more aware of that. They’re gonna call the taunt. I gotta celebrate with the team and, shoot, onto the next play.”
It sure helped him get past it and be philosophical because the Seahawks won, but coach Mike Macdonald focused on Woolen’s strong play the latter half of this season when talking after the game about the cornerback’s penalty that, had the Rams then scored on a fourth down near the goal line with 5 minutes left, could have ended Seattle’s season.
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“Look, Riq has done a tremendous job for us,” Macdonald said. “Yeah, you’re frustrated in the moment about what’s happening, but he just made an emotional decision and we got to pick him up.
“That’s not the time to point (the finger), get all upset. You’ve got to go play the next play and score and go rebound back and go back.”
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) comes off the field as a ref talks to him during the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Seattle.
(Brian Hayes/bhayes@thenewstribune.com)