The NFL has never been shy about its relationship with beer. From stadium signage to commercials during games, alcohol has long been part of the league’s business. So when a player was fined for pretending to drink one, Jason Kelce found the whole situation difficult to ignore.
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The former Philadelphia Eagles center criticized the NFL after San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk was fined $14,926 for a touchdown celebration.
The league said Juszczyk’s celebration mimicked a beer chug. Jason discussed the fine on his podcast, New Heights, with his brother Travis Kelce and questioned why the NFL would punish the gesture given its ties to beer.
“The NFL has beer labeled out off of every single thing in the stadiums. It’s on every commercial break,” Jason said on Wednesday. “[Bud Light] is an official sponsor of the NFL. It feels just very weird that, all of a sudden, they’re cracking down on this one specific thing,” Jason said.
Juszczyk’s celebration was not new. The 49ers fullback has used the motion for years as a nod to his nickname, “Juice,” which is even stitched onto his pads. After catching a six-yard touchdown pass during San Francisco’s 35-13 win over the Miami Dolphins, he tilted his head back and mimicked chugging a drink.
The $14,926 fine was not Juszczyk’s only penalty from the game. The NFL fined him twice, bringing the total to $29,852.
The NFL classified the gesture as an “offensive demonstration” and said the imitation of chugging a beer “could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste.” Juszczyk appealed the fine and made his own position clear.
“I don’t even drink beer!” he told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
That explanation became part of the reason the fine drew so much attention. Jason had already defended Juszczyk publicly, joking that the fullback should consider a counter-suit for defamation because the NFL could not prove he was pretending to drink alcohol. Garage Beer, the light-beer company backed by Jason and Travis, also offered to pay Juszczyk’s fine.
The timing made the story even more unusual. The NFL has a long-running relationship with such brands, with Bud Light serving as an official league sponsor. Beer advertisements are also a regular part of NFL broadcasts. That was the backdrop for Jason’s criticism on the podcast.
The Kelce brothers have plenty at stake in the beer business themselves. Garage Beer, which they became co-owners of in 2024, was valued at roughly $200 million. Travis has also been directly involved in the brand alongside Jason.
When the brothers invested in Garage Beer, they described the company as a natural fit with their connection to beer, football and the culture surrounding both. The brand later stepped into the current controversy itself, offering to cover Indianapolis Colts guard Matt Goncalves’ $8,847 fine after he was punished for a similar celebration.
Goncalves was not the only player caught up in the NFL’s crackdown. Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson was also fined $13,611 for a similar beer-chugging gesture. Combined with Juszczyk’s and Goncalves’ penalties, the three fines totaled $37,384.
Bud Light turned that number into a marketing opportunity, announcing a “Celly Jar” for $37,384 and joking about how many beers that amount could buy. The response added another layer to a controversy that had already placed the NFL’s celebration rules and beer partnerships in the same conversation.
For Juszczyk, the immediate issue remains his appeal. For Jason, however, the fine raised a bigger question about where the league draws the line when a harmless-looking celebration runs into one of its biggest commercial categories.