For the second week in a row, an NFL player has been fined for a Marshawn Lynch-inspired touchdown celebration.
Last week, Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was fined $19,697 for diving backwards into the end zone while grabbing his crotch at the end of his 64-yard touchdown run during the Lions’ 52-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This week, Seahawks cornerback Coby Bryant will have $6,594 docked from his NFL game check for a similar celebration after his 69-yard pick-6 during Seattle’s 16-6 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The celebration was planned in advance, Bryant told the Seahawks’ social media team after the game.
“I talked to my brother and my dad before the game. I told them I was gonna do it,” Bryant said. “They are more than likely going to fine me, so Marshawn, if you see this, show some love to your boy, too.
Bryant, like Williams, was punished for “Unsportsmanlike Conduct (obscene gestures)” for the celebration that Lynch made famous during his “BeastQuake” touchdown run during the 2011 NFC wild card game.
There was no flag on Bryant’s interception return, just as no penalties were called during the Williams and Lynch touchdowns.
The Seahawks have leaned into the fun using Bryant’s silhouette as a replacement for 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 D…efensive Player of the Week Award.”
It was pointed out to Lions head coach Dan Campbell this week that the NFL had used the Williams dive as the thumbnail image on the video package for the Lions-Jaguars game.
“Depends on what that is,” Campbell said about which celebrations are allowed. “Whether the league lets it happen, right? They’ll use whatever they need to. The content.”
The money the NFL collects from fines are donated to the Professional Athletes Foundation to “support Legends in need and the NFL Foundation to further support the health, safety and wellness of athletes across all levels, including youth football and the communities that support the game.”
