According to the NFL, both Detroit Lions running back Jamaal Williams and Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker committed violations worthy of fines in last Sunday's Week 18 season finale.
Williams moved his hips suggestively after scoring a touchdown, and Walker aggressively shoved a trainer from behind while they attended to an injured player. Somehow, the league deemed that Williams' act warranted a higher fine.
Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the league levied an $18,566 fine on Williams, while Walker's penalty was only $13,261.
In October, the NFL fined the 27-year-old for a similar celebration, which Williams told reporters he'd been doing "forever."
"It's not even thrusting. It's more like a wave," Williams said. "That's how I actually get away with it and I've been getting away with it all these years."
For the record, there was no flag thrown after Williams' hip thrusting last week.
Meanwhile, Walker's indiscretion was more emotional. The trainer he pushed was working on Lions' running back D'Andre Swift, a former college teammate of Walker's at Georgia.
Walker made no excuses in his apology earlier this week, taking full responsibility for his "stupid decision."
Ironically enough, Swift's injury occurred after he took a forearm to the face from Packers defensive lineman Jarran Reed, which went unpunished by the NFL.
LMAO REFS DIDNT EVEN FLAG THIS!!!??
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 9, 2023
they threw a flag on another Packer after the play when a Detroit trainer was pushed by a Packer player who was helping Swift from being cold-cocked & injured on this play pic.twitter.com/fNSU04rMUD
While some may say the league used Williams' recent history against him when comparing his fine to Walker's, that argument doesn't hold water. Walker's ejection last Sunday wasn't his first of the season. The 22-year-old got booted from the Packers' contest against the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 after needlessly pushing an individual on the Buffalo sideline.
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