On his first catch of the game last Sunday against the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was pushed out of bounds by Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. The two of course had an incident on Thanksgiving Day, with Williams drawing a taunting penalty on the field and Stevenson drawing a fine when those came out for the week's infractions.
This time around, Stevenson arguably hit Williams late out of bounds. Williams spun the ball on the ground toward Stevenson as he got up, drawing another 15-yard taunting penalty and what Lions head coach Dan Campbell described as a bit of an "a** chewing."
After the game, Williams dismissed the significance of spinning the ball and said no words were exchanged between he and Stevenson all day.
"On the first play, I just caught the ball, and I (spun) it,” Williams said. “I didn’t say nothing to him and he didn’t say nothing to me. I just spun the ball. I think the flag came from the overreaction from their sideline. Everybody was like, ‘Oh, oh oh.’ But people spin the ball when they make big catches. You probably watch the game and see the ball get spun 12+ times today. We didn’t say nothing to each other today.”
Jameson Williams hit with excessive fine for 'taunting' Tyrique Stevenson
On Saturday, the NFL announced Williams has been fined $11,255 for unsportmanlike conduct (taunting) for spinning the ball at Stevenson's feet. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero was also sure to mention the incident from Thanksgiving, as an explanation for a fine that topped $11,000 for spinning the ball and it happening to hit Stevenson?
Stevenson was fined nearly $20,000 for the incident on Thanksgiving, but he tripped Williams.
The NFL fined #Lions WR Jameson Williams $11,255 for unsportsmanlike conduct (taunting) — spinning the ball at the feet of #Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson, who also had a run-in with Williams on Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/eY5N7JH6vn
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 28, 2024
Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit showed us the All-22 angle of the play.
Not sure if anyone has seen the all-22 of Jameson Williams’ spinning of the football, but it does hit Tyrique Stevenson in the foot (if that matters). pic.twitter.com/HDHylFwT9H
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) December 28, 2024
It's worth mentioning this is not the first time that Williams has been fined this season. He was fined $14,609 for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the Week 4 game against the Seattle Seahawks. He was fined again, $19,697, for recreating the Marshawn Lynch touchdown celebration against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11.
The NFL can be random with the fines it doles out, and the dollar amounts of said fines are often completely random. Over $11,000 for spinning the football, unless Williams isn't being truthful about saying nothing to Stevenson along with it, is lame and excessive.