Bengals Receivers Fined for 'People's Elbow' Celebration

Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have been fined by the NFL for their "people's elbow" touchdown celebration. Chase confirmed the fines on Thursday, stating that the league disagreed with their interpretation of the gesture.

The celebration, which involves a player grabbing their elbow and flopping an arm forward, was intended by Chase and Higgins as a unique way to signal a first down. However, the NFL deemed it unsportsmanlike conduct. The standard fine for a first offense of unsportsmanlike conduct is $14,926, while taunting offenses incur a $11,941 penalty.

Reports indicate that Higgins was fined four times and Chase twice for the celebration, resulting in a combined total of $89,556. Chase expressed his intention to appeal the fines, emphasizing that the celebration was a novel creation that others have misinterpreted.

"We got fined for the people’s elbow stuff," Chase said. "I would love to appeal it. It’s something we made up, and then everybody else saying what it is. Everybody gonna have their own opinion of what it looked like."

Chase, who has accumulated six fines from the league for various infractions throughout his career, believes these latest penalties should prompt action from the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). He drew parallels to San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who was also fined for a celebration the league interpreted as imitating drinking a beer, despite Juszczyk claiming it was a gesture related to his nickname, "Juice."

"I think this is where the superstars have to get in with the NFLPA and fight for our money because if he’s getting fined for doing a drinking gesture, a juice gesture and I’m getting fined for an elbow and doing the first down thing, I don’t know," Chase stated.

Chase also commented on the restrictive environment for players regarding expressions on social media, noting, "I don’t even think we can tweet about it because we get fined for tweeting about it. So like it’s really like players gotta keep their mouth shut and deal with it. We gotta have a superstar in the NFLPA to do something about it, help us along the way."

This incident adds to Chase's history of league fines, which now total $613,162 over six career penalties. These include a previous fine for an obscene gesture, a one-game suspension for spitting on an opponent, verbally abusing an official, another obscene gesture, and taunting.

In a related case, Bengals receiver Andrei Iosivas successfully appealed a fine for a bow-and-arrow celebration in 2024, though he has not used it since. Chase remains hopeful for a favorable outcome in his appeal, even suggesting potential modifications to the celebration during his press conference.

"This is literally like a wrestling move," he said. "It was something different for us, something new, something we’re trying to be unique. They’re just stopping the fun."