NFL Drops Hammer on Bengals' Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase with 6 Fines from Same Game

Chase says he plays to appeal

Sep 20, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) reacts after making a touchdown catch against the Houston Texans during the second quarter at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The NFL dropped the hammer on the “People’s Elbow.”

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase confirmed that he and Tee Higgins received fines for their new celebration, but he didn’t say how much – or how many.

The NFL fined Chase and Higgins a total of six times, once for each instance they used the celebration, per a report from The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones.

Each fine was $14,926, and Higgins received four for a total of $59,704, and Chase drew two for $29,852.

“I would love to appeal it,” Chase said during his Thursday afternoon news conference. “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.

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

And Chase said he wasn’t the NFLPA to put an end to the NFL putting an end to their fun.

Chase referenced the $14,926 fine San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk received for what he also claimed was a misinterpreted celebration. The league said the fine was for imitating chugging a beer, but Juszczyk, whose nickname is “Juice,” said he’s been doing the celebration for years and he’s just drinking his 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 said.

“I don't even think we can tweet about it because we get fined for tweeting about it,” Chase added. “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.”

The league will officially announce all Week 2 fines on Saturday.

The league does not announce the results of appeals, so that will be up to Chase and/or Higgins to divulge once they plead their case.

Bengals wide receiver Andrei Iosivas successfully appealed a fine for a “violent gesture” when he used a bow-and-arrow celebration after a touchdown in Kansas City in 2024.

Iosivas hasn’t used the celebration since winning the appeal.

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