49ers TE George Kittle invents new nickname for Kyle Juszczyk after beer chug celly

George Kittle did not wait for the question. A day after the NFL fined Kyle Juszczyk $14,926 for a touchdown celebration the league claimed was an imitation of chugging a beer, the 49ers tight end opened his media session on Thursday by announcing that Juszczyk’s nickname was being changed, and that the locker room had already made it official.

“Opening statement, I think we’re going to sign a petition. Juice’s new nickname is Beer now,” Kittle said on Friday. “So that’s his new thing. Just letting you guys know, as a team, we voted on that.”

The ruling landed oddly because Juszczyk’s nickname is Juice, and he has been performing a version of that celebration for more than a decade in response to 49ers fans chanting it. The league’s letter said the gesture “constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste.”

Juszczyk was baffled. “I don’t know how else to say it, I wasn’t drinking beer in my celebration,” he said. “I think you guys all know my nickname is Juice. I have juice on my pads. So I was surprised as anybody when I got a fine this week.”

He added a detail that made the ruling harder to justify. “That’s the other side of it, is I don’t even drink beer,” Juszczyk said. “I maybe drink like five times a year in the offseason, and it’s usually with George because he peer pressures me.”

That admission only gave Kittle more material. Before facing reporters, Juszczyk placed a container on his locker shelf wrapped in white paper with “NOT BEER” written across it. Kittle also posted a photo on X of Juszczyk drinking a beer in the water, captioned with mock outrage that it came before practice.

Juszczyk, 35 and in his 10th season with San Francisco, has appealed the fine and had a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. It was the first fine of his career, and he has been the 49ers’ Art Rooney Award nominee for sportsmanship in each of the past six seasons.