Ezekiel Elliot is having a fantastic rookie season for the most popular team in the league, so that may be the reason he didn’t get fined for his Salvation Army kettle celebration. The rule book states that players cannot use props during touchdown celebrations, but somehow Ezekiel Elliot got away without being fined for jumping into the Salvation Army kettle after his 2nd quarter touchdown against Tampa.
Elliot planned on donating any fines to the Salvation Army, but he was spared.
Even though I will not be fined I still will be making a donation to the @SalvationArmyUS pic.twitter.com/AMJ1gSuse3
— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) December 19, 2016
Now players around the league are beginning to voice their concerns over the apparent double standard. First it was Odell Beckham that raised the issue, now Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has expressed his displeasure on Twitter.
me & AB got fined for a handshake…………..A HANDSHAKE!
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) December 20, 2016
Bell has a valid point with how the NFL is handling this. In order to maintain some semblance of order, the NFL must apply the rules the same way across the board for all players. What Elliot did was great television and helped further endear himself to the nation, but he should have been fined for it. Elliot even pledged to donate the fine, which gave the NFL a pass to penalize him without damaging the public perception of the league. It’s a surprising move by the league especially coming off of the deflategate debacle, that frankly isn’t worth the risk of further undermining player confidence.
Flip the pages to see the hand shake that cost Bell $12,154 and his reaction to Odell Beckham’s tweet.