Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t forgotten the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2022 opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He just remembers it for a very different reason than most people do.
That game is usually filed away for Joe Burrow’s four turnovers, the loss of long snapper Clark Harris, and the missed game-winning kicks that followed in regulation and overtime of a 23-20 loss. Chase, though, thinks of the moment he flashed both middle fingers at Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The gesture was caught by a photographer, and the image has lived on far beyond that night. Chase said the photo has shown up on shirts, blankets and other items that eventually make their way back to him.
He’s even asked to sign some of them.
“Because I want to do it again,” Chase said. “But I don’t want to get fined.
But I love it. It’s a cool picture, honestly.”
That moment brought Chase his first NFL fine, with the league docking him $23,870 for “multiple unsportsmanlike conducts.” The double birds themselves didn’t draw a flag, but he was hit with a 15-yard taunting penalty after an incomplete pass on fourth and 2 with 1:51 left and Cincinnati trailing 20-14.
It was the first of several fines and punishments for Chase. He has since been fined five more times in his career, though the fine for obscene gestures in Week 2 against Houston was rescinded.
Later in 2022, he was fined $15,914 for taunting against Kansas City. In 2024, he was fined $31,599 for verbally abusing an official at Kansas City and $19,697 for an obscene gesture against Baltimore. Last year, he was suspended for one game after spitting on Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey, a punishment that cost him $507,156.
Sunday’s meeting with the Steelers comes two days shy of the one-year anniversary of that incident.
Chase said he doesn’t want another fine, but he also made clear he’d be willing to take one if the moment called for it.
“If it was the Super Bowl, yes,” he said. “I would definitely do it again.”
Asked about an AFC Championship Game against the Steelers, he added, “I might have to call Chad (Johnson) for that one.”
Chase also said he knew there was no realistic path to overturning the 2022 fine.
“There's no appealing that fine because I'm red handed in photos. It's hard to get out of that one.”
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