Joe Mixon challenges NFL, Roger Goodell to coin toss over $13K fine for Week 18 TD celebration

Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon had some fun during a Week 18 win over the Baltimore Ravens with a coin flip touchdown celebration. Now, he’s having some fun with the $13,261 fine he says the NFL hit him with on Friday.

Mixon tweeted a screenshot of what appears to be the official fine notice from the league, which outlines that props are specifically prohibited, and made a proposition.

“@NFL since y’all all about the coin flipping let’s do this. Let’s have a coin toss to pay this crazy fine for expressing myself. If it’s heads I’ll pay,” he wrote. “If it’s tails Roger [Goodell] pay the money to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cincinnati.”

For Mixon, maybe it’s less about the money and more about the principle.

Frustration over rule changes

Before the game, Bengals legend Chad Johnson tweeted, "Dear Bengals players, if you love me the way I love you guys when you score tomorrow someone has to flip a coin as their celebration & call tails."

His tweet was a result of the multiple playoff rule changes implemented in the wake of the Bengals-Bills Week 17 cancellation. Johnson, Mixon, fans and other Bengals personnel were not pleased with the stipulation that if the Ravens beat the Bengals in Week 18, they would decide home-field advantage with a coin flip immediately following the game.

Head coach Zac Taylor also voiced his frustrations with the rule after the NFL announced its decision. Taylor said the change wasn't fair or equitable to the Bengals compared to how it affected the rest of the AFC.

So, when the Bengals' star running back scored his first touchdown in the first quarter to give the team a 10-0 lead, he flipped a coin he'd concealed in a glove to symbolize the new rule.

His continued coin flip jabs come after Johnson pledged to help the 26-year-old pay the fine.

“I have my checkbook so I can reimburse Joe Mixon on whatever fine amount was handed down from the league office,” he wrote early Friday morning.

It was a fair offer considering that Johnson slightly pressured the Bengals into the celebration, even though he seemed shocked to actually see it happen. It's also an offer that he appears to have full intent to make good on. Mixon tweeted about receiving a package, presumably from the NFL regarding the fine, to which Johnson responded “I’m in town now, just DM the numbers & I’ll write the check.”

All that for the coin flip to not even come into play, since the Ravens lost. The two teams will meet again in Cincinnati on Sunday during wild-card weekend. The Ravens will officially be without quarterback Lamar Jackson once more.