For the second week in a row, a Pittsburgh Steelers player punted the ball into the stands after scoring a touchdown. Last week, it was WR George Pickens, and with Pickens inactive with a hamstring injury, TE Pat Freiermuth took notes and punted the ball after his third-quarter touchdown in the Steelers’ 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns. Per Mike DeFabo of The Athletic on Twitter, Freiermuth’s response when asked about his celebration was simple.
“Someone had to get fined today,” Freiermuth said.
Per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Freiermuth added that he was proud of his hangtime and said he was a punter during his high school days at The Brooks School in North Andover, Mass.
Pickens wasn’t fined for his punt in the end zone last week, although the NFL fines and appeals page notes that a football into the stands can cost a player $7,878 for his first infraction. Pickens was fined twice last week, one for making a finger gun that was classified as a violent gesture and another for taunting Bengals LB Germaine Pratt. All told Week 13 cost Pickens over $20,000.
We’ll see if Freiermuth ends up getting fined, and if he does, if it’s made public on the NFL fine sheet. After signing a four-year extension worth over $48 million, he’ll be able to afford it, and clearly Freiermuth was aware that he might get fined and still went ahead with the punt.
It’s one of those fines that’s procedural by the NFL, but really, it’s no harm, no foul, except for the offending player’s wallet. Freiermuth was excited after giving the Steelers a three-score lead and catching his second touchdown pass in as many weeks. He showed his excitement by booting the ball into the stands.
Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, it was a decision that Freiermuth made earlier this week to punt the ball into the stands if he scored. He added that his grandfather’s “probably pissed,” as in a Player’s Tribune article Freiermuth wrote earlier this year, he mentioned that his grandfather always told him to hand the ball back to the referee and not celebrate.
Freiermuth has become an emerging weapon for the 10-3 Steelers, and the offense deserves to have some fun. It’s a unit that’s struggled in recent years but has found some fire this season, especially in recent weeks with QB Russell Wilson. Freiermuth showed off his punting chops and had a little fun with a celebration, and he doesn’t seem to mind that it could cost him some change next week.
