The No Fun League has taken it to the next level.
Out of nowhere, the NFL is issuing fines to any and all players who celebrate by the miming of any beverage, under the assumption that the beverage in question is intended to be beer.
The latest name to emerge is Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson. He was fined, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, $13,611 for pretending to shotgun a beer after scoring a touchdown in Week 2 against the Commanders.
The sudden decision to crack down on something that has been happening for a while is odd. And it invites the question of whether the NFL put the players on fair notice that the fines will be coming.
The weekly fines are published by the NFL on Saturday afternoons. This week’s list apparently will have more than a few for celebrations that were deemed to involve the drinking of a beer — even if they didn’t.
Our guess is that someone in a position of power noticed one of these celebrations in Week 1 and issued a mandate to start imposing fines immediately. With no regard to how it will be received by the players, the media, or the fans.
It’s just weird. There were no fines for offensive celebrations in Week 1, or in any week of the preseason. Now, several players have gotten whacked for something that at best seems heavy handed and at worst seems hypocritical, given that the NFL has an official beer sponsor and the games include the selling of copious amounts of beer at exorbitant prices.