The NFL has been quick to hand out celebration fines this season whenever a player has made gestures that resemble drinking or smoking. Kyle Juszczyk had a fine rescinded when he successfully argued that his drinking celebration was for juice (like his name) and not beer.
Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams took a different approach in his celebration appeal, but the simple argument still ended up working.
Williams was fined $26,867 for both taunting and an illegal celebration/vulgar act in the Lions' Week 2 game against the Bills. The act in question? Williams appeared to gesture like he was smoking. He did a similar celebration in his two-touchdown game against the Cardinals on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the NFL rescinded the fine because Williams
argued that marijuana is legal in many states and denied that his actions were offensive.
#Lions WR Jameson Williams won both his appeals of fines of celebrations against the #Bills, as amounts of $14,926 and $11,941 were rescinded.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 13, 2026
On one, Williams denied his “brief gesture” was offensive and argued “that marijuana is legal in some states if that was the gesture he… pic.twitter.com/tQ3wu2KNZf
Appeals officer Derrick Brooks wrote in his decision:
“Although I rescinded this fine, please make every effort to celebrate with your teammates in the best professional manner possible.”
We'll have to see if the league takes issue with Williams' Sunday celebrations, but there are certainly bigger disciplinary actions the NFL should be concerned with. You know, like postgame punches to opponents.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: How Jameson Williams successfully argued against his fine for smoking gesture
