San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk has defended his trademark “juice” celebration after the NFL fined him nearly $15,000 for appearing to imitate someone chugging a beer.
Juszczyk performed the gesture after scoring a receiving touchdown against the Miami Dolphins at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, tilting his head back and mimicking the act of drinking from a container.
The league fined him $14,926, ruling that the celebration was an “imitation of chugging a beer” which could reasonably be considered “in poor taste”.
But Juszczyk said the gesture was a reference to his nickname rather than alcohol. “I wasn’t drinking beer in my celebration,” he told reporters after practice in Santa Clara.
“My nickname is Juice. I have ‘Juice’ on my pads. The stadium yells ‘Juice’ when I catch the ball. When I celebrate, I celebrate by drinking juice, and it’s been that way for years.”
The 35-year-old said he was surprised when coach Kyle Shanahan informed him of the punishment, initially believing he was being pranked. He has appealed the fine and is due to take part in a hearing on Tuesday.
Juszczyk also insisted that beer did not feature heavily in his life, saying: “I don’t even drink beer. I maybe drink like five times a year in the off-season, and it’s usually with George [Kittle] because he peer pressures me.”
Teammate George Kittle responded by joking that Juszczyk’s new nickname should be “Beer”, while offensive lineman Trent Williams described the NFL’s decision as “pretty ridiculous”, arguing that Juszczyk had performed the celebration for years.
