Why did Andrei Iosivas get fined for bow-and-arrow celebration? Bengals WR punished for miming Travis Kelce's signature move

David Suggs

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Why did Andrei Iosivas get fined for bow-and-arrow celebration? Bengals WR punished for miming Travis Kelce's signature move image

Andrei Iosivas' wallet got a little bit thinner Saturday afternoon.

The Bengals wideout capped off his first score of the season — a diving four-yard grab against the Chiefs in Week 2 — with a flourish, celebrating his tip-toed effort with a bow-and-arrow celebration that looked rather familiar to the legions of Kansas City fans who pooled into Arrowhead Stadium.

The touchdown momentous occasion for Iosivas, the Princeton alum who has established himself as a red-zone maven across his two years in the NFL. He celebrated accordingly, as any 24-year old pass-catcher privy to the ways his opposition operated would: by mocking Chiefs star Travis Kelce's signature move.

The NFL wasn't pleased with Iosivas' gesture, though. The league took a bite out of Iosivas' paycheck, docking the Cincinnati wide receiver $5,305 for the "violent" gesture.

That's all well and good. Except for the fact that Kelce, who routinely employs the age-old hand signal, has never faced the same level of punishment.

Here's what you need to know.

MORE: Meet Andrei Iosivas, the Bengals' latest fantasy sleeper 

Why did Andrei Iosivas get fined for bow-and-arrow celebration?

Iosivas' celebration was clearly a nod to Kelce's usual antics. It's unclear whether that played a role in the NFL's decision to siphon money out of Iosivas' pockets. But the fact that Iosivas was said to have committed an unsportsmanlike gesture, one that had violent implications, does seem to indicate the penalty revolved around Iosivas' move alone, not its relation to Kelce.

Whether Iosivas' gesture can be construed as inherently violent depends on one's frame of reference. Across other sports leagues, though, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Jamal Murray has made the jig a regular part of his post-three-pointer routine with the Nuggets. P.K. Subban and Fernando Rodney also among the many athletes past and present who have fired off imaginary recurves when the opportunity arose.

Those players weren't made to shell out dough for those actions. Then again, the NFL has long been considered the "No Fun League." Saturday's announcement simply adds to that reputation.

Kelce might avoid chastisement for the gesture in part because he tends to do so prior to games. Instead of sending darts towards the ether after securing a first down or score for his beloved franchise, Kelce tends to do so coming out of the tunnel before games.

Suffice to say, Bengals fans were left awestruck by the NFL's decision. It'll be interesting to see if the NFL employs a similar tactic if (and perhaps when) Kelce pulls off the eye-catching technique...again.

Andrei Iosivas contract

Iosivas inked a four-year, $3,999,384 contract with the Bengals after being selected in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, per Spotrac. Of that total, just $159,384 — the value of Iosivas' signing bonus — is guaranteed. He's set to make $915,000 in base salary in 2024.

David Suggs

David Suggs Photo

David Suggs is a content producer at The Sporting News. A long-suffering Everton, Wizards and Commanders fan, he has learned to get used to losing over the years. In his free time, he enjoys skateboarding (poorly), listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and D’Angelo, and penning short journal entries.