The NFL makes it abundantly clear how it feels about Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins’ shared celebration
Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins had to cough up tens of thousands of dollars this week to the NFL.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins had to cough up tens of thousands of dollars this week to the NFL.
Per The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones, Chase and Higgins were fined a combined $89,556 for a total of six celebrations the league deemed them to be “offensive gestures.”
Higgins was docked four times for a total of $59,704, $14,926 for each offense. Chase was fined twice, resulting in $29,852 being taken from him.
The celebration can be seen here, at the end of an NFL social post that generated over five million hits for the account.
Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins speak out for being fined
Chase revealed to reporters Thursday he was fined before there was a report of how much he’s to give back to the league. He’s adamant the celebration is not what the NFL thinks it is.
“I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out because that’s not what it is,” Chase told reporters Thursday. “This is literally like a wrestling move. You know what I’m saying? So I don’t know. Maybe I should stop. I don’t know.”
Chase offered a potential variation of the move. He doesn’t want it to go away entirely.
“It was something different for us, something we try to be unique with. Just stopping the fun. So it is what it is.”
Per Jones’ report, the league believes it “can be interpreted as resembling a phallus.” Chase, and Higgins, are standing with conviction it’s a version of “The People’s Elbow,” a wrestling move made famous by Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson.
“I’m a fan of WWE, ‘The People’s Elbow,’ and we just threw in a first down celebration with it,” Higgins said on Kay Adams’ show. “Unfortunately we did get the letter, everybody on the internet is making it seem like something that it isn’t.”
We’ll see if either fine gets appealed and rescinded. For now, the league made it very clear Chase and Higgins’ new celebration will not be tolerated.
