Raise your pretend glasses, Kyle Juszczyk and Jake Ferguson, and chug the imaginary beverages of your choice. Your recent five-figure fines have been rescinded!
The NFL and the NFL Players Assn. released a joint statement Wednesday to clarify some of the on-field celebrations that are and are not allowed during NFL games.
Of particular significance to San Francisco 49ers fullback Juszczyk and Dallas Cowboys tight end Ferguson is this sentence: “Recent celebrations imitating drinking a beverage will not be considered violations or result in discipline.”
Juszczyk had been fined $29,852 after celebrating two catches during a Sept. 20 win over the Miami Dolphins by pantomiming the act of drinking a beverage, something he’s done for years. The league initially ruled it an “imitation of chugging a beer” that “constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste.”
“I wasn’t drinking beer in my celebration,” Juszczyk told reporters on Sept. 24. “I think you guys all know my nickname is Juice. I have Juice on my pads. The stadium yells ‘Juice!’ when I catch the ball. When I celebrate, I celebrate by drinking juice, and it’s been that way for years. So I was surprised as anybody when I got a fine this week.”
Ferguson was fined $13,611 for a similar celebration during a Cowboys win over the Washington Commanders also on Sept. 20. The fifth-year player later said that his invisible drink was actually Gatorade.
The fines to Juszczyk and Ferguson had been reported as rescinded before the joint statement from the league and its players union came out. Colts offensive lineman Matt Goncalves also should be off the hook for his fine of $8,847 for a similar celebration during a game against the Kansas City Chiefs on the same day. His fake beverage of choice for that particular celebration, Goncalves has said, was Coke.
It seems like the NFL realized players could claim to have been demonstrating their love for anything from water to a wild huckleberry mint mojito mocktail and decided to let this one go. As for the still-prohibited celebrations, those include gestures that depict violence (including the use of guns/weapons and gang-related signs), imitate smoking or drug use, or are sexual in nature
The Associated Press contributed to this report.