Juszczyk Baffled by $14,926 Fine for 'Beer' Celebration — SkimNews
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- Kyle Juszczyk was fined $14,926 by the NFL for 'engaging in offensive demonstrations' — specifically an 'imitation of chugging a beer' with under eight minutes left in the third quarter against the Dolphins — a move the fullback insists is his trademark 'drinking juice' celebration tied to his nickname.
- Juszczyk staged a visual protest at his locker with a jug labeled 'Not Beer' and a thigh pad emblazoned with a juice box, and has appealed the fine alongside a separate $20,033 Week 1 penalty for unnecessary roughness against the Rams; both hearings are scheduled for Tuesday in what he called a 'doubleheader.'
- 49ers tight end George Kittle and the locker room piled on with jokes, with Kittle announcing the team voted to strip Juszczyk of his 'Juice' nickname and replace it with 'Beer.'
- Indianapolis Colts guard Matt Goncalves received an $8,847 fine for a similar beer-chugging celebration after tight end Tyler Warren handed him the ball following a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Bengals receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are facing fines for their new first-down celebration — a slow hand-unfurl into a first-down motion that Chase says is an homage to WWE's 'The People's Elbow,' not the gesture critics have assumed.
- Chase publicly pushed back on the league's enforcement, saying 'They're just stopping the fun,' and called on superstars and the NFLPA to fight to get the fines rescinded.
- The NFL warned Juszczyk in its fine notice that 'further offenses will result in an escalation of disciplinary action, up to and including suspension,' the first explicit suspension threat tied to a celebration penalty in this wave.
Why it matters: The NFL's enforcement of celebration rules is drawing simultaneous pushback from multiple star players, with Juszczyk, Chase, and others openly challenging fines totaling tens of thousands of dollars. The league explicitly warned Juszczyk that further offenses escalate to possible suspension, raising the stakes for Tuesday's appeal hearing and signaling that the NFL is willing to escalate rather than back down.
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