Was Xavier Worthy punished for Christmas themed celebration?

Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy certainly looked like the Grinch who stole Christmas at Acrisure Stadium early. After the Chiefs defense quickly forced the Pittsburgh Steelers off the field on their first drive, Patrick Mahomes and Co. a great field position and took advantage of it.

Once in the red zone, Worthy lined up in the backfield and then ran out to the flat in left. The speedster was wide open, drew a quick throw from Mahomes and then was able to quickly turn on the jets and get into the end zone to take a quick lead. However, the celebration with fellow receiver Hollywood Brown drew some ire from the officials.

Worthy and Brown appeared to be doing an actual Grinch impression as the former threw presents into a mime bag that Brown was holding before both ran off. And somehow the refs saw a penalty that threw an unsportsmanlike conduct flag and backed Harrison Butker back for a 48-yard extra point attempt.

Butker missed the PAT attempt after being pushed back, but we’re still wondering why Worthy was even flagged?

Why is a Christmas themed celebration marked? Well, it looks like Worthy was flagged for what happened after he and Brown stole all the presents from under the Steelers’ tree.

The explanation given on the Netflix broadcast was that as Worthy and Brown walked away, the Chiefs rookie appeared to pull up his jersey or at least reach to his hip as if miming waving with a weapon or a gun. Admittedly, you can see what the refs saw on the video, but it was anything but a violent move.

That said, the NFL has instituted a true no-wiggle room policy when it comes to celebrations involving guns, weapons, or violence, so if they even thought there was any indication of that, then Worthy was always going to be flagged . At least it wasn’t for being the Grinch? The No Fun League doesn’t extend that far, at least not yet.

Worthy has to be smarter than that though. While the rookie has stepped into a much bigger role this season than he should due to the injury to Brown that sidelined the veteran for most of the season, he cost the Chiefs an early point in what is supposed to be a tight . , hard fought game. Even if it wasn’t his intention (which we certainly can’t confirm) to mime having a weapon, anything that could be interpreted as that should be taken out of the body language vocabulary if you’re a player.