The NFL has always known how violence is inherent and celebrated in its sport -- from the once-famous Jacked Up segments on ESPN, to the still-famous "Hit Stick" on the "Madden NFL '09" video game and the dozens of "greatest hits" videos.

More and more, however, the hard hits are being viewed by the league in a much different light. The weekly list of those being fined $7,500 or $15,000 or $50,000 for a hard hit -- whether it drew a flag or not the previous Sunday -- is getting more attention than ever.

It's confusing lots of players, too.

"I don't know what a bad hit is," said Adrian Wilson of the Arizona Cardinals, fined $25,000 earlier this season for a hit that knocked Buffalo quarterback Trent Edwards out of a game -- the very thing some defenders see as part of their job.

"You know, it's football, and to me, every hit could be scrutinized, regardless of whether it's a legal hit or an illegal hit," Wilson said.

WHERE THE LEAGUE STANDS

The NFL, seriously contemplating moving to an 18-game season in which player health would be jeopardized even further, realizes what a big investment it has in these players.

Commissioner Roger Goodell is on a crusade to clean up the image of its players and the game. A league that sometimes seems almost too perfectly sanitized and on-message could be moving toward alienating its players and policing out of the game one of the very things that made it popular in the first place: the bone-crushing hit.

Under current rules, Chuck Bednarik might have owed huge money after leveling Frank Gifford, then glowering over him -- one of the iconic images in the NFL's long and often violent history. The blindside hit in 1960 was deemed legal. Still, Gifford missed a year and a half, and his career was shortened because of the hit. Bednarik's celebration was thought by most to be over the top.

What about the often-replayed hit 30 years later, at a 1990 Monday Night Football game, by Denver's Steve Atwater on Kansas City's Christian Okoye?

And what about Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor? The Giants linebacker who victimized almost every quarterback of a certain vintage certainly would have written his fair share of checks.

WHAT WARRANTS ACTION

As of late October, the NFL had levied 139 fines for a variety of reasons, including illegal and dangerous hits. Though the league did not offer any statistical updates, breakdowns or comparisons to previous years for this story, it appears to be putting teeth into Goodell's early season reminder to players and teams.

In a letter sent to all the teams, he said that even first-time offenders would be subject to fines for illegal hits.

"From this point forward, you should be clear on the following point: Any conduct that unnecessarily risks the safety of other players has no role in the game of football and will be disciplined at increased levels, including on a first offense," Goodell wrote.

An NFL spokesman said that historically, there are about 20 fines a week for illegal hits out of about 2,300 plays (153 per game).

WHAT PLAYERS ARE SAYING

- "It's becoming more and more flag football, two-hand touch," Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said in a statement, which helped trigger a meeting with the NFL to clear the air when the Steelers felt they were being singled out after having players fined four times for a total of $50,000 in two weeks. "We've really lost the essence of what real American football is about. They're not really concerned about safety, because people have been doing this for ... quite a few decades."

- "If you make the highlights these days, you're going to get fined," said John Lynch, who received a warning letter from the league after a hard hit on Colts tight end Dallas Clark in 2005. "That's pretty much what it comes down to.

"It's kind of hypocritical. They put it on their 'greatest hits,' but they'll fine you for it, too," Lynch said of the league's attitude.