Multiple players across the NFL have been hit with hefty fines over the last couple of days. It started with 49ers star Kyle Juszczyk, who was fined $14,926 for a beer-chugging touchdown celebration in San Francisco's Week 2 win over the Dolphins. Then Ja'Marr Chase was fined for introducing a WWE-inspired "People's Elbow" celebration during the Bengals' game against Houston.
Brown also reportedly faced four separate fines totaling nearly $60,000 following the Lions' matchup against the Bills. Now, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson has been added to the list, hit with a $13,611 fine for what the NFL called his "imitation of shotgunning a beer" in Dallas' win over the Commanders on Sunday. The league added that it "constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste." More news: Saquon Barkley Update Drops Ahead of Primetime Matchup vs Bears There's an argument against every one of these fines, but the beer-related celebrations have drawn extra attention because of the NFL's relationship with multiple major beer brands.
The league regularly advertises Bud Light through its sponsorship rights with Anheuser-Busch, and Budweiser commercials have become a Super Bowl staple. Any football fan has probably come across an ad for Coors Light, Corona, or Modelo at some point as well. So when a player gets fined for a beer-related celebration, it immediately gets called out as hypocritical.
Juszczyk has already started the process of appealing his fine. Time will tell if Ferguson feels compelled to do the same. More news: Joey Porter Jr Breaks Silence on Contract Standoff With Steelers More news: Browns Insider Predicts Shedeur Sanders Won’t Be on the Roster for Much Longer The NFL has made it especially clear this season that it has zero tolerance for anything it considers "poor taste." But there's an issue when the league alone gets to decide what that means, and something as harmless as a WWE-style celebration results in a hefty fine.
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