Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins face a combined $89,556 in NFL fines for celebratory arm gestures the league deemed obscene during recent games, prompting Chase to defend the move as a professional wrestling tribute rather than a violation.
The National Football League handed down a total of $89,556 in fines to Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins for a touchdown celebration used across multiple games this season. The disciplinary action targeted both players after the league deemed the gesture obscene, interpreting the arm movement on multiple occasions as resembling a phallus.
Financial penalties hit the wide receivers hard, according to reporting by The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones. Chase received a $29,852 fine, while Higgins was penalized. Each celebration cost the players $14,926 per occurrence, with Higgins utilizing the gesture four times and Chase performing it twice.
Ja’Marr Chase Defends the Celebration as The People’s Elbow
“No, that’s not Spider-Man. It’s the People’s Elbow, bruh. The Rock from wrestling, he did it differently, though, we just added the [point],” Chase explained.
Chase doubled down on his explanation during a press session, noting that players invent their own celebrations only for outsiders to assign different meanings to them. The celebration in question occurred during the second quarter of Cincinnati’s game against the Houston Texans, when Chase caught a contested touchdown pass to put his team ahead 7-0.
“Bro, at the end of the day, I can’t say what something we made up, and then everybody else saying what it is. I can’t sit there and say that. Everybody gonna have their opinion on what it look like, what it is. They had many people talking about what it looked like, what it is but I can’t really sit here and say, ‘That’s what it is.’ You know? Obviously, that’s not what it is, but it is what it is.”
Social Media Reaction and On-Field Success for the Bengals
Public response to the wrestling explanation was swift and skeptical across social media platforms. Analysts and fans openly questioned the comparison, with Nekias Duncan writing on X, You gotta at least pretend to be believable lol
while another user suggested, Fine him for lying.
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Media members joined in the critique. CBS Sports analyst JP Acosta rejected the wrestling defense, writing, That's definitely not the people's elbow lmfao.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo also mocked the explanation by sharing a GIF of The Rock, while Pro Football Network leaned into the joke by sharing their own GIF and stating, The people's elbow.
Observers who missed the movement can picture an athlete holding their right upper arm parallel to the floor, placing the hand close to the ear, and gripping the right elbow using the left hand prior to dropping the forearm. Both Chase and Higgins have used versions of it this season, which is why the NFL apparently noticed.
The disciplinary news arrives as the Bengals enjoy a strong start to the campaign. Cincinnati sits at 2-0 following a 20-6 victory over Houston, where Chase hauled in seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns, including a stunning toe-tapping grab near the boundary against Derek Stingley Jr.
Through two games, Chase has nine catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. His current PFN WR Impact score sits at 75.3, No. 32 in the league, after his quiet opener against Tampa Bay dragged down the tiny sample.
The team’s defensive units have also shined, leading the league with eight sacks and tying for first with three turnovers. Week 3 on Sunday brings a matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1), where Cincinnati will pursue its third consecutive victory.
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