Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams found himself in a familiar place as his team’s season came to a sudden and surprising end — the hot seat.
Williams has found his way into trouble a bit during his three seasons in the NFL, incurring two separate suspensions along with some off-the-field troubles. He struggled in the team’s loss to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round, throwing an interception on a trick play and later being fined by the NFL for one of his actions during the game.
Jameson Williams Fined for Celebration
The NFL announced this weekend that Williams was fined $25,325 for an “obscene gesture” after he scored a touchdown against the Commanders. Williams scored on a 61-yard reverse in the second quarter to cut the Washington lead to 24-21, then gyrated his lower body toward the turf in celebration.
Williams was not flagged for the celebration at the time. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted, this was not the first time that Williams had been fined for a borderline celebration during a game.
“Williams was fined $19,697 for a regular-season celebration that mimicked the Marshawn Lynch backward diving crotch grab into the end zone,” Florio wrote.
Williams came under fire for his decision to throw into tight coverage later in the game on a designed pass for the wide receiver that was intercepted. Though the Lions won a league-high 15 games this season and earned the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in franchise history, the team fell flat in a loss to the Commanders, throwing four interceptions.
Jameson Williams Has Found Trouble in the Past
Williams is no stranger to NFL punishment. After rehabbing a torn ACL for most of his rookie year, Williams got a late start to his second NFL season when he was suspended six games for violating the league’s rules against gambling.
The suspension was knocked down to four games when the league announced that it tweaked rules and punishments for gambling. But Williams found more trouble this season when he was suspended two games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
Williams later released a statement saying he did not knowingly take any substances to enhance his performance.
“This week I was notified by the NFL that I have been suspended for a violation of the Performance Enhancing Substances Policy,” Williams said in a statement, via his representatives. “The news came as a complete surprise that I am still trying to understand. I don’t take supplements or vitamins and I am overly cautious about even taking over-the-counter medicine. At no time have I ever taken something in an attempt to cheat or look for an unfair advantage. I understand that I am responsible for everything that goes into my body and I have to take accountability in this instance.”
Williams later faced a police investigation this year, with Ross Jones of WXYZ Detroit reporting that Detroit police found a gun in his vehicle during a traffic stop in October. The Lions stood by Williams at the time, and he ultimately faced no charges for the incident.
