NFL released the name of the unlucky bunch of players who received fines, and if Jameson Williams thought he would not be on it, then he guessed wrong. The Detroit Lions wide receiver has to pay a hefty fine for something that rarely takes place on the gridiron.
Williams did not have much to do until four minutes before the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Divisional round game. Jared Goff threw three picks and was replaced with veteran Teddy Bridgewater .
Offensive coordinator (now head coach in Chicago) Ben Johnson ran a trick play. Bridgewater handed the ball to running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who gave it to on-rushing Jameson Williams. The 23-year-old carried the ball across the halfway mark down the nearside before switching course and running to the far side of the turf to score an uninterrupted touchdown.
After throwing the ball away, Williams engaged in a celebration that is more appropriate inside the bedroom behind closed doors than in front of 50,000+ fans. A section of the fans on social media rolled their eyes at the stunt they witnessed and knew the Alabama graduate would be fined.
On Saturday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero revealed that the league fined Jameson Williams $25,325 for the ‘obscene gesture.’
Who else besides Jameson Williams got fined by the NFL?
Williams wasn’t the only one who had to pay a portion of their weekly salary to the league. Pelissero mentioned Commanders pass rusher Frankie Luvu ’s name, who almost knocked out Goff with a helmet-to-helmet collision. The referee didn’t see anything wrong with the tackle, but the league committee found it worthy of a $16,883 fine.
Luvu has to pay an additional $16,883 for a hip-drop tackle on Gibbs. So, in total, the 28-year-old must pay $33,766.
Despite fans calling the NFL the No Fun League, they correctly identified Jameson Williams’ celebration as out of place on the field because there were kids in the stands watching the game with their parents.