Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase discussed a number of things ahead of the Bengals’ home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. When the discussion turned to Chase signing pictures of viral moments in his career, one reporter brought up his infamous 2022 photograph, which showed him flipping off then-Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
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During his November 12 media availability, Chase revealed that he definitely had signed copies of the viral 2022 moment and said that he “loved it”. But when asked if he would do it again, the wide receiver hesitated.
“I love it,” Chase said when asked how he felt about the picture. “I want to do it again, but I don’t want to get fined. So I love it, though, but it’s a cool picture, though. Honestly, it’s really, really cool, though.”
Given the tense relationship between the two AFC North rivals, the Bengals wide receiver’s response wasn’t surprising. If anything, it seems much more tempered. He admitted that he did not want to get fined again, especially considering the league has been cracking down severely on all kinds of infractions on the field, including taunting and illegal gestures.
Chase had already been fined $14,926 twice in Week 2 for making an “obscene gesture” that resembled WWE’s “People’s Elbow”, bringing his total to $29,852. He had successfully appealed to the NFL against the fines, clarifying that it was a celebration move he created with his teammate and arguing that the league had assumed the worst of him. But as the interviewer pressed on, it became clear that Chase would not be averse to getting on the NFL’s bad books again if the right occasion, such as the Super Bowl or the AFC Championship Game, presented itself.
“If it was the Super Bowl, yes. Yeah, I would, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would definitely do that again, yeah,” Chase added. “I might have to call Chad to pay for that one [AFC Championship game]. I don’t know, you know?”
He even asked the reporter playfully if he would pay the fine if Chase did something similar, which they insisted they would. Although Chase saw the humor in that, he admitted that he didn’t know why he had shown Fitzpatrick the double-bird back in 2022 at all.
Ironically, the infamous picture was not really symbolic of celebration at all, but rather an expression of frustration. The moment came in the middle of the 2022 season opener, when the Bengals suffered a 23-20 overtime loss to the Steelers. Chase himself had been called out quite a few times that day for taunting the Steelers relentlessly and even ripping out Steelers defensive back Ahkello Witherspoon’s mouthpiece. He even admitted that it wasn’t the first time he had done something like that, but the first time they had caught him doing it.
But even as the wide receiver tried to downplay his animosity towards the Steelers and temper the intense competitiveness that defines Bengals vs. Steelers clashes, he could not help but take a few more shots at the Pittsburgh team. In fact, when asked about where he ranked the Steelers as rivals compared to the Kansas City Chiefs, Chase categorized the Chiefs as higher-level rivals than the Steelers.
“It’s up there. I wouldn’t put it [Steelers] No. 1; I don’t have anybody No. 1, but it’s pretty up there, I would say,” Chase said. “No. They’re [Chiefs] way higher than them [Steelers].”
Despite the Chiefs not being direct divisional rivals, Chase’s take made sense considering the Bengals have played around 35 games against the Chiefs and won roughly half of them. Given the Chiefs’ 2026 divisional standings, they have a strong chance of making the playoffs and becoming an AFC opponent for the Bengals if they remain Super Bowl contenders.