NFL teams
David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Panthers CB Josh Norman fined for celebration he was told was legal

NFL, Carolina Panthers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The NFL fined Josh Norman $8,681 for a touchdown celebration the Panthers cornerback had been told was legal before Sunday's game at Tampa Bay.

Norman said he asked former Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks, a fines appeal officer appointed jointly by the NFL and NFLPA, during warm-ups whether he could celebrate by riding the football like a horse if he scored.

That happened in the first quarter when Norman intercepted a pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. The Panthers were penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Then, on Friday, Norman was fined for the second time this season.

He also was fined $8,681 for taunting while returning an interception for a touchdown in the opener at Jacksonville. Norman waved at quarterback Blake Bortles during the return.

He was not fined for his giddy-up celebration in that game, but he didn't use the football as prominently as he did against Tampa Bay.

Norman understood the first fine. He didn't for this one, and he told ESPN.com he plans to appeal.

Norman was penalized under Rule 12, Section 3, of the league's unsportsmanlike conduct code that prohibits "using the ball or any other object including pylons, goal posts, or crossbars, as a prop."

Norman referred to Brooks as a league official, which Brooks is not, officially. Norman didn't know that.

"He [Brooks] said I was fine," Norman said after the victory that improved Carolina to 4-0 heading into a bye week. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't have never did it."

The fourth-year defensive back had another interception in the second half against Tampa Bay to earn the NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award on the heels of being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month.

Norman's four interceptions is more than 20 NFL teams have.

In the final year of his contract, Norman is due a big pay raise after this season if he continues to perform at an elite level.

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