Broncos’ rookie Omar Bolden fined for cell phone ringing during meeting

(Click to enlarge — image courtesy of Sam Smith and @Os_Island_TS on Instagram)

Sometimes, rookies have to learn the hard way.

On Thursday, Denver Broncos rookie cornerback Omar Bolden learned that turning his phone to silent—or off—is a wise move before entering a meeting.

“Lesson learned… Lol Damm!” Bolden posted on Instagram, a social networking site used for posting vintage style photos online, along with a picture of a $300 fine on Thursday afternoon.

The fine, signed by Head Coach John Fox, was pointed out to BroncoTalk by Sam Smith, a big Broncos fan who goes by @DenverBroncoSam on Twitter.  Bolden’s phone apparently rang during a special teams meeting, which is a violation of Section 2 (ii) of the team’s Code of Conduct.

“There shall be no use of cell phones, and similar PDAs, iPads and the like pagers, or devices in meetings — maximum fine of $1,855,” read the fine issued to Bolden.

Presumably because it was an accident, Bolden got away easy with a $300 fine, which is just 16% of the maximum the team could have slapped him with.  A carbon copy of the letter was sent to team executives John Elway, Matt Russell, Mark Thewes and Mike Sullivan.

Bolden was drafted by the Broncos 101st overall in the fourth round of April’s draft and was the first of the team’s draft selections to sign.  He later signed a four-year contract worth $2.574 million.

His fine will cost him 0.01165501165% of that contract.  Not a big deal, but every dollar adds up.  A maximum fine still would have cost him less than 1% of his contract (.07206682206%), but he obviously isn’t eager to pay any percentage of his contract in fines.

Bolden seemed to have taken the discipline well.  It’s unlikely that we’ll see him as a repeat cell-phone-user-during-team-meetings offender.