Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was fined $11,576 on Friday for his exuberant celebration during Arizona’s 39-32 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The crux of the problem for the NFL had to do with Palmer’s crotch, which thrust a little too crudely for the league’s taste.
ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss was one of the first to report the news of the fine late Friday afternoon.
Palmer’s NSFW NSFNFL move came after the team scored the game-clinching touchdown against the Seahawks. And while Palmer was criticized for taunting the opposition, the quarterback said that wasn’t his intent. Instead, he said the move, made famous by a group of WWE wrestlers in the ’90s called D-Generation X, was directed toward his friends.
“I had my buddies in the sideline, right four or five rows up,” Palmer said (via Pro Football Talk) Thursday. “I saw them pretty excited and [that] got me excited to see them excited.”
[Carson Palmer finally (and hilariously) joins Facebook, Instagram]
The NFL, however, wasn’t excited. The league didn’t make clear what specifically about the move it thought was worth fining Palmer for — taunting or sexually suggestive gesturing — but both are prohibited under Rule 12, Section 3, of the NFL rule book that covers unsportsmanlike conduct.
As for the figure of $11,576, that’s the standard fine for any unsportsmanlike conduct, according to the league’s schedule.
That may sound steep, but just think about the financial consequences Palmer could’ve faced had he followed the ways of “Key and Peele’s” Hingle McCringleberry and executed three pumps. Shudder the thought.
[Key and Peele donated to Von Miller’s charity after NFL fined him for pelvic thrusts]
