The NFL fined Kyle Juszczyk $14,926 for pretending to chug a beer after a touchdown. Juszczyk says it was juice.
Welcome to the 2026 season, where the league office has decided that mimed beverages are a competitive integrity issue.
What Actually Happened
The 49ers fullback celebrated a touchdown with a chugging motion. The league flagged it as an unsportsmanlike conduct violation tied to simulating alcohol consumption and issued the standard fine amount.
Juszczyk’s response has been closer to amused disbelief than outrage, which is the correct read on a situation this absurd. The fine figure, $14,926, is the same standard number the NFL applies across this category of celebration penalties.
The League Has a Consistency Problem
This is not an isolated ruling. Amon-Ra St. Brown was hit with four separate fines totaling $59,704 for smoking-related celebrations. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins were fined for celebrations the league deemed obscene.
The NFL is enforcing a celebration policy that fans do not want, players do not understand, and the league itself markets highlights of every single week.
There is a real argument for policing truly offensive gestures. There is no argument for fining a fullback the price of a used car because he mimed drinking something.
Juszczyk Is the Wrong Target
He has been one of the most respected players in the sport for a decade and the last fullback in football who still matters to an offense. He is not a repeat offender. He is not taunting anyone.
He scored a touchdown, did a bit, and got a bill for it.
The Money Is Not the Point
Juszczyk can afford $14,926. That is not the issue and everyone involved knows it.
The issue is that the NFL spends enormous energy marketing personality and then taxes it the moment a player shows any. The celebration rules exist in a strange space where the league wants the content but not the conduct that generates it.
Appeals Rarely Work
St. Brown said he is appealing his fines. Players usually do. The success rate on celebration appeals is not encouraging, because the league grades these against a written standard rather than a reasonableness test.
That is precisely the problem. A rule applied without judgment produces outcomes like this one.
What Changes Nothing
Juszczyk will score again and he will celebrate again, because that is who he is and because $14,926 is not a deterrent to a player making what he makes.
The NFL will fine him again. The clip will go viral again. And the league will keep collecting money from the exact moments it puts in its own highlight packages.
San Francisco fans should enjoy it. Fullbacks who score touchdowns and then do bits about it are a dying breed, and no fine schedule is going to change that.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.