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Cowboys’ Defender Gets Harsh Punishment for Hit on Jaxson Dart

Dallas Cowboys
Oct 16, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; A Dallas Cowboys helmet sits on the field prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Dallas won 30-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL fined Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown $9,527 for a late hit on New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart in last week’s season opener, according to the league’s Week 1 accountability report.

The play came with 9:38 left in the first quarter of Dallas’s 28-20 loss on Sept. 13. On second-and-10 from the Giants’ 41-yard line, Dart faked a handoff to Cam Skattebo, kept the ball and scrambled 22 yards toward the sideline.

Officials ruled Overshown drove a shoulder into Dart after the quarterback had stepped out of bounds, sending him into sideline equipment and drawing a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.

The flag moved the ball to the Dallas 22. New York scored four plays later on a Skattebo touchdown run. Dart stayed in the game.

The $9,527 figure is below the published first-offense late-hit amount of $11,941. That is not a judgment that the hit was milder than usual.

Under the NFL-NFLPA collective bargaining agreement, a first-offense baseline fine cannot exceed 10 percent of a player’s salary-cap count for that game. Overshown is in the final year of his rookie contract, so the cap applied.

This is Overshown’s second personal-foul fine. The league docked him $8,166 in November 2025 for shoving Las Vegas Raiders running back Raheem Mostert after Mostert was already out of bounds.

Combined, the two penalties have cost him more than $17,000.

A second late-hit offense would carry a higher scheduled amount, and 2026 accountability rules add the possibility of a suspension after three qualifying violations.

Overshown was not the only Cowboy fined after the Giants game. Edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku was assessed $11,941 for a facemask, and running back Javonte Williams was fined $11,941 for taunting.

The three penalties totaled $33,409. Overshown also strained his hamstring in the same game and is expected to miss Week 2 against Washington.

The hit was one of 20 plays the NFL fined from 2,568 snaps in Week 1. Fine money collected by the league is directed to the Professional Athletes Foundation and the NFL Foundation.

For Dallas, the opening-week flags and the Overshown injury add early friction for a defense that already surrendered an early scoring drive after the penalty.

Overshown’s next on-field test will wait until he is healthy; the next fine schedule test will depend on how he plays when he returns.

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