NFL cancels Juszczyk fine, sees he was pretending to drink juice, not beer

The NFL has rescinded the $14,926 fine it imposed on the San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Juszczyk for what it thought was a distasteful celebration of chugging a beer.

The league said it was withdrawing the fine to Juszczyk, whose nickname is Juice, "because his celebration was simulating drinking a juice box, not a beer ... Mr. Juszczyk finally stated that the fine is hypocritical with the amount of Bud Light sponsorships surrounding the NFL."

When he was fined, the league said that Juszczyk violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, when he did an "imitation of chugging a beer" with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter of the Niners' Week 2 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

Juszczyk immediately pushed back against the fine on social media and then held a brief media session during which he took the time to place a jug labeled in big letters "Not Beer" and put one of his thigh pads, emblazoned with a juice box, on his locker as a backdrop for the interview.

"I don't know how else to say it," Juszczyk said on Sept. 24. "I wasn't drinking beer in my celebration. I think you guys all know my nickname is Juice. I have 'Juice' on my pads. The stadium yells 'Juice' when I catch the ball. When I celebrate, I celebrate by drinking juice, and it's been that way for years. I was as surprised as anybody when I got a fine."

When Juszczyk was informed of the fine by Kyle Shanahan, he said he thought his head coach "was just messing with me."

ESPN's Adam Schefter and Nick Wagoner contributed to this report.