The NFL is sometimes called the No Fun League. Apparently, it’s also the No Phallus League.
Yes, I’ve now seen everything. (Not literally.)
The league fined Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for a celebration that was deemed to be obscene.
From Jonathan Jones of The Athletic: “On multiple occasions last week, Chase and Higgins each did a gesture that can be interpreted as resembling a phallus.”
In a session with reporters, Chase explained that the gesture is a variation of “the people’s elbow,” a move made popular by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“Bro, at the end of the day, I can’t say what something we made up, and then everybody else saying what it is,” Chase said, via Pat Brennan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I can’t sit there and say that.
“Everybody gonna have their opinion on what it look like, what it is. They had many people talking about what it looked like, what it is but I can’t really sit here and say, ‘That’s what it is.’ You know? Obviously, that’s not what it is, but it is what it is.”
Some people other than the powers-that-be at 345 Park Avenue did indeed interpret the celebration as referring to the display of a body part other than an elbow.
Chase displayed a potentially acceptable alternative during his Wednesday press conference.
The disclosure comes on the same day that news emerged of a fine imposed on 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk for, in the league’s view, miming the chugging of a beer.
Chase suggested that the league’s “superstars” should work with the NFL Players Association and “fight for our money.”
While it makes no sense to punish Juszczyk for pretending to do what thousands of fans literally do while attending NFL games, the Chase and Higgins fines become the logical extension of the punishment, since that’s where the chugged beer quickly ends up.