The Aporia · Browns players hit with fines for pretending to smoke after scoring a touchdown

Browns players hit with fines for pretending to smoke after scoring a touchdown

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Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Reigle, M. (2026, October 11). Browns players hit with fines for pretending to smoke after scoring a touchdown. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/browns-players-hit-fines-pretending-smoke-scoring-touchdown

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Cleveland Browns players Quinshon Judkins, Deshaun Watson, and Austin Barber were fined by the NFL for pretending to smoke after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The fines range from $6,944 for Barber to $14,397 for Judkins and Watson. This incident follows recent changes in league rules where drinking celebrations are now permitted following discussions with the NFLPA. The article questions whether these new guidelines adequately address the distinction between acceptable and unacceptable celebratory actions, suggesting a hypothetical scenario involving both smoking and drinking to test the boundaries of current regulations.

Written by AI on 2026-10-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In an NFL game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, running back Quinshon Judkins scored a touchdown in the second quarter. Following his score, Judkins pretended to smoke a cigarette along with quarterback Deshaun Watson and guard Austin Barber. The league later fined each player for this celebration: Judkins and Watson were fined $14,397 each, while Barber had to pay $6,944. This incident highlights the NFL's strict guidelines on in-game celebrations, which recently led them to rescind fines against players from the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys for pretending to drink alcohol. However, smoking-related celebrations are still not allowed, underscoring the league’s inconsistent approach to such antics.

Written for “Browns Players Fined For Celebrating” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Kyle Juszczyk, Dre Greenlaw fines illustrate NFL’s double standard Different event

New York Post

⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 40 claims Outlet record 66/100

“The articles describe different incidents involving fines for touchdown celebrations; one involves Kyle Juszczyk and Dre Greenlaw, while the other involves Quinshon Judkins and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

69/100

Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6063 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Matt Reigle

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Topics

49ers Browns Cleveland Browns NFL Pittsburgh Steelers

Subjects

NFL ORG · 2× 49ers ORG · 1× Austin Barber PERSON · 1× Browns ORG · 1× Cleveland Browns ORG · 1× Deshaun Watson PERSON · 1× Judkins PERSON · 1× Kyle Juszczyk PERSON · 1× Pittsburgh Steelers ORG · 1× Quinshon Judkins PERSON · 1×

Narrative

NFL celebrations are in the news once again, and a few Cleveland Browns players are learning that while the league's guidelines are sometimes murky, you can't pretend to puff-puff-pass a doob in the end zone.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-11

🔮 ...Well, I guess someone could just ask, but my way is more fun.

2026-10-11 · Fox News

Browns players hit with fines for pretending to smoke after scoring a touchdown · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 1 hedged)

you → learn → zone

Sorry, I don't make those rules. asserted

I → make → rules

The Browns took on the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers this week. asserted

Browns → take → Steelers

In the second quarter, running back Quinshon Judkins found the end zone, and that was reason enough to light up some pretend jazz cigarettes. asserted

that → find → cigarettes

The league, perhaps predictably, didn't dig that one. asserted

league → dig → one

It was announced on Saturday that Judkins and QB Deshaun Watson had been fined a cool $14,397, while guard Austin Barber, who also snuck a hit off of the invisible blunt, had to pony up $6,944. asserted

who → announce → 6,944

This comes after the league rescinded fines levied against 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk and Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson for pretending to chug an imaginary drink. asserted

league → come → drink

After meeting with the NFLPA, the league decided that drinking celebrations were okay, but obviously, smoking celebrations are still verboten. asserted

celebrations → meet → NFLPA

Which clears things up a little bit... but I think we need further experimentation. asserted

we → clear → experimentation

I think for the sake of understanding these rules, a player needs to score and then celebrate by pretending to sip a glass of scotch while puffing away on an imaginary cigar. asserted

player → think → cigar

Just sounds like a gentleman detective unwinding in his study to me, but how does the NFL see it? asserted

NFL → sound → it

Is it a smaller fine because the drinking dilutes the smoking? asserted

drinking → dilute → smoking

Does it matter that they're just pretending to smoke something that doesn't have the "Reefer Madness" element to it? asserted

that → matter → it

Fans and players need clarification on the nuances of smoking and drinking celebrations, and as far as I can tell, this is the only way to find out. asserted

this → need → celebrations

...Well, I guess someone could just ask, but my way is more fun. uncertain

way → guess → ?