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 crutches at the end of his 64-yard touchdown run during the Lions’ 52-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This week, Seahawks cornerback Kobe Bryant will dock $6,594 from his NFL game check for a similar celebration after his 69-yard pick-six 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 going to do it,” Bryant said. “They’re more than likely going to fine me, so Marshon, if you see this, show your son some love too.
Bryant, like Williams, was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct (foul gesture) for the celebration that Lynch made famous during his “BeastQuake” touchdown run during the 2011 NFC wild-card game.
There were no flags on Bryant’s interception return, just as no penalty was called on the Williams and Lynch touchdowns.
The Seahawks leaned into fun, using Bryant’s silhouette as a replacement for the football in 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 …defensive player of The Week Award.”
It was pointed out to Lions head coach Dan Campbell this week that the NFL used Williams’ dive as a thumbnail image in the video package of the Lions-Jaguars game.
“It depends on what,” Campbell said of what celebrations are allowed. “The league is going to let it happen, right? They will use whatever they need. content.”
The money the NFL collects from the fines is donated to the Professional Athlete Foundation “to support legends in need and to further support the health, safety and well-being of athletes at all levels, including youth football and the communities that support the game.”
