For the second week in a row, an NFL player was fined for a Marshawn Lynch-inspired touchdown celebration.
Last week, Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was fine of $19,697 to dive backwards into the end zone grabbing his crotch at the end of his 64-yard touchdown run in the Lions game Victory 52-6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This week, Seahawks cornerback Coby Bryant will have $6,594 docked from his NFL game control for a similar celebration after his 69-yard pick-6 in the Seattle game Victory 16-6 against the Arizona Cardinals.
The celebration was planned in advance, Bryant told the The Seahawks Social Media Team after the match.
“I talked to my brother and my dad before the game. I told them I was going to do it,” Bryant said. “They’re most likely going to fine me, so Marshawn, if you see this, show your boy some love too.
Bryant, like Williams, was punished for “unsportsmanlike conduct (obscene gestures)” for the celebration Lynch made famous during his “BeastQuake” touchdown run in the 2011 NFC wild card game.
There was no flag on Bryant’s interception return, just as no penalties were called on Williams and Lynch’s touchdowns.
The Seahawks leaned into the fun by using Bryant’s silhouette replacing the football on the NFL logo and celebrating his NFC Defensive Player of the Week award with a post on X using an image of Bryant’s dive with the caption “Hold my Defensive Player of the Week award.”
It was reported to Lions head coach Dan Campbell this week that the NFL had used Williams’ dive as a thumbnail image on video package for the Lions-Jaguars game.
“It depends on what it is,” Campbell said of which celebrations are allowed. “Let the league let this happen, right?” They will use whatever they need. The content.
The money the NFL collects from fines goes to the Professional Athletes Foundation to “support Legends in need and NFL Foundation to further support the health, safety and well-being of athletes at all levels, including youth football and the communities that support the game.”