The Detroit Lions drew a lot of fines this past season. That was no one’s imagination, culminating in wide receiver Jameson Williams being fined $25,325 for humping the end zone (there’s no other, safe-for-work way to describe it accurately) during the Divisional Round loss to the Washington Commanders.
Williams was fined three other times during the season, two for touchdown celebrations (one was also an “obscene gesture”, as he mimicked Marshawn Lynch’s famous crotch-grab celebration) and one for an altercation with Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson that stretched the criteria for a fine to be necessary.
Safety Brian Branch was also fined multiple times during the season, frequently for illegal use of his helmet, and a fine seemed like practically a weekly occurrence for a stretch. His “high point” was Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers, when was ejected for unnecessary roughness then flipped a double-bird to the crowd at Lambeau Field as he left the field. He was fined a total for $20,256 for his actions that day, and when he had the opportunity at his locker the week after he apologized for the double middle fingers.
Lions finished toward the top of the field in fines for 2024 season
The Houston Texans lapped the field with over $3.1 million in total fines as a team this past season. The Lions came in at No. 8, with $444,007 in total fines. Again, not surprising when looking back, but also not a category you want to rank highly in. And it really seemed like more than $444,000, as we waited what seemed like every Saturday during the season to see which Lions players got fined and/or how much they got fined from the previous week’s action.
The Lions were fined a total of 20 times during the 2024 season (counting the playoffs). Their most fined player was, naturally, Branch as he was fined seven times and docked a total of $70,896. Williams wasn’t far behind in lost money, as his four fines totaled $70,346. That fine in the playoff game had to particularly hurt him, since it cost him nearly half his paycheck for that game ($54,500.
Ultimately, many of the fines Branch and Williams had in 2024 are easily avoidable. Two of the Lions’ best young players surely learned a lesson…
