SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk won his appeal over the fines issued by the NFL for what it deemed an “offensive” celebration when he imitated drinking a beverage, which the league said looked like he was chugging a beer.
Juszczyk was initially fined $29,852 for two infractions of the league’s sportsmanship rules after celebrating two catches in the third quarter of a Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins by doing the celebration he has done for years while the fans at Levi’s Stadium cheered “Juice!” for his nickname.
He appealed the fine and an appeals officer ruled in his favor, the league said Wednesday.
ESPN first reported that the fine had been rescinded on appeal.
The NFL has vowed to crack down on celebrations this season and initially ruled that the “imitation of chugging a beer constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste."
The NFL has issued 21 fines in the first three weeks for illegal celebrations or obscene gestures totaling more than $300,000. It's not clear how many others have been rescinded on appeal.
Juszczyk has been doing a version of that celebration throughout his career in San Francisco in response to 49ers fans chanting his nickname after catches or other big plays. He argued in the appeal that he was imitating drinking juice.
“I don’t know how else to say it. I wasn’t drinking beer in my celebration,” Juszczyk said on Sept. 24. “I think you guys all know my nickname is Juice. I have Juice on my pads. The stadium yells ‘Juice!’ when I catch the ball. When I celebrate, I celebrate by drinking juice, and it’s been that way for years. So I was surprised as anybody when I got a fine this week.”
Juszczyk has been the 49ers’ nominee for the Art Rooney Award for sportsmanship for the past six seasons. The only fines he previously has had were for illegal use of the helmet and low blocks.
Juszczyk is in his 14th season in the NFL and 10th with San Francisco. He has made the Pro Bowl 10 times and was an All-Pro in 2023 and ’25.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
FILE - San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk gestures after a play against the Miami Dolphins during the second half an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox, File)
CAIRO (AP) — Saudi officials say 3 people killed in attacks at airports as Iran-backed Houthi rebels claim new attacks on kingdom.
THIS IS AN APNewsAlert. Check back for updates. AP's earlier story is below.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed new attacks on airports and military facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the kingdom is pulled deeper into the latest front in the Iran war, which also threatens a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
As the Saudi capital is targeted again, new cage-like fences have been erected this week around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the Riyadh airport. The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, has seen oil and military assets targeted in recent days.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said on social media that the rebels launched ballistic missiles and drones against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said they intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh. Flights were briefly disrupted, according to Flightradar24.
Now Saudi Arabia and allied Yemeni forces have launched a major ground and air offensive aimed at retaking territory that the rebels seized a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Those positions gave the Houthis better surveillance as they pursue a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping. On Monday, officials said forces of the Saudi-led coalition recaptured several key areas around the strait, through which about 12% of global trade transits.
“The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure, such as oil facilities and airports,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in an analysis.
The Houthi spokesperson said they also targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia, a frequent target of rebel drones and missiles. The rebels also claimed to hit an air base in the city of Khamis Mushait and two military bases in Najran and Asir. All are in the southwest, near the Yemeni border.
Inside Yemen, fighting has centered in and around the crucial town of Dhubab, some 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) south of the port city of Mokha that the rebels seized last month, according to both the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government.
Two Houthi officials said Wednesday that the rebels had regained control of key areas of Yemen’s southwestern coast, including Dhubab and the nearby village of Al-Jadid, as well as the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after intensified fighting with Saudi-backed coalition forces.
A government official denied the claims, which The Associated Press could not independently verify.
The Houthis also claimed that Saudi forces had targeted “civilian assets” over the past 24 hours in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as Taiz, Jawf and other active fronts, including Saada and Marib.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said, without providing evidence, that fighter jets used in the attacks had taken off from Khamis Mushait and Taif in Saudi Arabia, while missiles had been launched from Najran and Jizan. The rebels have repeatedly claimed attacks on those Saudi cities in recent weeks.
Al-Malki has vowed “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are “eliminated.” The coalition has said 100 fighter jets were providing support. Another aim is to liberate Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi criticized Saudi Arabia over support for Yemen’s government forces in the latest escalation with the Houthis, which has shattered a truce reached four years ago.
Rebels are ready to support Palestinians in every way they can in case of “any new round of escalation” with Israel, al-Houthi said in a speech Wednesday expressing solidarity with Gaza on the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The offensive began after the rebels seized Turbah town on a main road linking the provincial capital of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, with Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government. Officials have said U.S. support has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning.
The escalation has revived Yemen’s civil war after a four-year ceasefire. Almost 1,000 people have been killed in the latest fighting, with over 200,000 displaced, according to the United Nations. Cholera and malnutrition cases are increasing, access to trauma care is more difficult and some hospitals have shortages of surgical and other supplies, the World Health Organization said this week.
The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Aden. Explosions were heard by an AP journalist around 2 a.m.
The rebels hit a military camp close to the city's airport with ballistic missiles, Saree said. Security authorities in Aden said the Houthis targeted the airport with two missiles, with no casualties. The airport is close to the seat of government.
One missile hit close to the runway just before the scheduled landing of a flight from Cairo, the Human Rights Ministry said. Flight 603, operated by Yemen’s flagship airline, landed safely in Aden at 3:30 a.m., according to the flight tracking platform FlightAware.
The ministry said the missile hit as other passengers were waiting to board their flight to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.
Houthi supporters chant slogans during an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters attend an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
A Houthi supporter carries a rifle while attending an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Displaced Yemeni women wait to receive aid supplies at the Al-Salam camp in Dar Saad district, Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
An aerial view shows the Al-Salam camp, which shelters displaced Yemenis, in Dar Saad district, Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A displaced Yemeni reads a newspaper at the Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran on the western outskirts of Aden, Yemen, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
