NFL Fines 49ers' Kyle Juszczyk Twice, $29,852 Total, Over Celebration He Says Is Orange Juice, Not Beer

Kyle Juszczyk has caught 27 yards worth of passes and $29,852 worth of fines from the same game.

The San Francisco 49ers fullback, nicknamed "Juice" for his entire 14-year career, was fined twice by the NFL for the same celebration during San Francisco's 35-13 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, September 20. Each fine, announced Saturday, September 26, ran $14,926, for a combined $29,852, according to the NFL's weekly fine report cited by Yahoo Sports and NBC Sports.

The league says Juszczyk imitated chugging a beer after a 21-yard catch and again two plays later after a 6-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Brock Purdy. The fine letter, obtained by the Associated Press and published by CBS News, reads: "Your imitation of chugging a beer constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste. Players are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on the game and is consistent with NFL standards of sportsmanship."

Juszczyk says it's not beer. It's juice.

"I don't know how else to say it. I wasn't drinking beer in my celebration," Juszczyk told reporters, according to CBS News. "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."

According to NBC Sports Bay Area, this is the first time in Juszczyk's career the celebration has drawn a fine. He's a 10-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, and has been San Francisco's nominee for the Art Rooney Award for sportsmanship for six straight seasons, per CBS News. Not exactly a guy the league needs to make an example of.

Juszczyk didn't just complain. He staged a rebuttal. He labeled a jug on his locker shelf "NOT BEER" in bold letters and set a leg pad printed with a juice box design behind him for interviews, according to Heavy and Newsweek. His wife posted a video slicing oranges and hand-juicing them into a cup. On social media, Juszczyk wrote simply: "Can't make this stuff up."

A Second Fine Piles On

This isn't Juszczyk's only fight with the league office. He's also appealing a $20,033 fine from Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams in Australia, for what the NFL called impermissible use of the helmet while lead-blocking for Christian McCaffrey, according to CBS Sports. Both cases go before a jointly appointed appeals officer in a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, what Juszczyk called a "doubleheader" per Heavy.

He's not alone in getting dinged this week. The NFL fined players for 13 separate incidents under the same "illegal celebrations and vulgar acts" code, according to Yahoo Sports. Cincinnati receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins were fined for their new "people's elbow" celebration, with Chase insisting to reporters it's simply a first-down signal, not the off-color gesture some read into it online, per CBS News. Two other 49ers took hits from the same game: defensive lineman Keion White was fined $13,770 for landing full body weight on Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis, and cornerback Upton Stout was fined $7,501 for taunting.

The league's defenders would say there's a real policy reason here. The NFL has openly said it's cracking down on celebrations across the board this season, and officials reviewing game film in real time don't always have the benefit of knowing a guy's nickname or his pad decorations. Judged coldly on video, a mimed chug looks like a mimed chug. That's a fair point, as far as it goes.

But it doesn't hold up against the specifics. Juszczyk's nickname has been "Juice" for his entire tenure in San Francisco. Stadium crowds chant it. His pads say it. He's been doing this exact gesture for years with zero fines and zero complaints, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. A league that fines a sportsmanship award nominee $29,852 for a celebration it can't be bothered to check against basic context isn't cracking down on bad behavior. It's cracking down on paperwork.

Teammates aren't taking it seriously. George Kittle joked the team already voted to rename Juszczyk "Beer" instead of "Juice," according to Heavy. Juszczyk, for his part, noted he drinks actual beer maybe five times a year, usually when Kittle talks him into it.

The appeal hearing is set for Tuesday. If the NFL upholds both fines, Juszczyk will be out nearly $50,000 for two games' worth of blocking and one contested juice box.