The NFL announced Thursday that it was fining San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk $14,926 for a celebration that it deemed an “offensive demonstration.” Count NFL legend Rob Gronkowski among the many observers who have an issue with that decision.
Juszczyk — referred to as “Juice” by his teammates — celebrated a big play last Sunday against the Miami Dolphins by what the NFL interpreted as pretending to chug a beer. Juszczyk, who is appealing the fine, says the pretend beverage he was drinking was juice, not beer.
Gronkowski, who has chugged a beer or two in his day, told Athlon Sports that he didn’t see the celebration, but he doesn’t think it deserved a fine.
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“I don’t think that should be a fine,” Gronkowski said. “Because you could be drinking apple juice. You could be drinking orange juice.
“I don’t really know why he got fined in that situation. I don’t know the ruling on that, and I’m surprised by that. That’s just pretending you’re just drinking. Maybe he was drinking water, to hydrate. I don’t know. But, yeah, that’s a little ridiculous.”
It makes sense that someone nicknamed “Juice” might be chugging juice, but I asked Gronkowski how many times he celebrated his football exploits with juice.
“Plenty of times,” he said. “Especially early in my career. It was always apple juice, because what do they say? One apple a day keeps the doctor away. So I had, like, 10 of them on purpose so then I would really keep the doctor away.”
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