Steelers: Antonio Brown’s fine is ridiculous

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown’s fine by the NFL this week is ludicrous, and proof that the league does not know how to have fun.

Antonio Brown was having a hell of a game on Sunday night. The score was 38-10 and the Steelers were cruising to victory over the Colts with only a couple of minutes left to play. Brown had already racked up 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns, but he wasn’t done yet.

After another stalled drive the Colts punted. Brown fielded the ball, made a couple of his signature sneaky moves and took it all the way to the house. At the end he decided to celebrate in a special way: by destroying his scrotum on the goal post:

Funny, right? Not to the officials, who threw a flag which cost the Steelers 15 yards on the ensuing kickoff. Not to the empty suits in the league office, either.

According to a report by Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Brown was fined $11,576 for the “excessive celebration.”

To a multi-millionaire like Brown that’s not a lot of money, and he seems to be taking it in stride. It’s the principle that matters, though. The average American earns around $26,700 a year. A commensurate fine for us commoners would be $400.

What would you do if some tool in the corporate office fined you $400 for a celebration you did after having one of the most productive days of work in your career?

For all the money and power and prestige that the NFL carries around, this is more proof that its heart is simply not in the right place. Their athletes risk debilitating injury and head trauma every single snap for our entertainment and their bottom line. Have they not earned the right to a little bit of fun when they score a touchdown?

Next: Steelers: How Jarvis Jones can secure his future

It’s way past time that the NFL repealed the completely useless excessive celebration rule. Ridiculous.