NFL CANCELS FINES AGAINST JA'MARR CHASE AND JAMESON WILLIAMS

The NFL has withdrawn fines totalling nearly $57,000 against Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams after both players successfully appealed the penalties. Chase had two fines of $14,926 each, totalling $29,852, overturned following his side's Week 2 win over the Houston Texans. The league had issued the fines after ruling that a handshake celebration between Chase and team-mate Tee Higgins amounted to an obscene gesture. According to the NFL appeals office letter, cited by NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Chase argued he had received no warning that the celebration breached league rules and said it was "a new celebration with his teammate" that was "not offensive". Chase also said the league was "assuming the worst of him and his teammate without discussing with the NFLPA". Williams had two separate fines, of $14,926 and $11,941, cancelled, bringing his total reversal to $26,867.

The fines formed part of a wider set of penalties issued by the NFL in Week 2, when the league handed out 22 unsportsmanlike conduct fines over post-play celebrations, amounting to more than $300,000 across that weekend. Higgins and Chicago-based Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown were each fined $59,704 as part of that enforcement. The Chase-Higgins celebration was described as a reference to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's "People's Elbow" wrestling move, though the league's appeals letter noted others interpreted it differently. Higgins was fined multiple times for the same celebration, though it remains unclear whether he filed an appeal of his own.

The reversal raises questions over the consistency of the NFL's enforcement of its conduct rules around end-zone and post-play celebrations. The league has not commented further on why the fines were withdrawn beyond the content of the appeals office letter. There is no confirmation of whether Higgins' fines, which were not addressed in the reports of Chase's and Williams' appeals, will face a similar challenge.