Tyreek Hill’s gesture for videographer punished after his backflip celebration
In Week 6, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill delivered one of the top highlights of the 2023 NFL season.
After catching a 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers, Hill went behind the end zone and grabbed a phone from an NFL videographer on site. Hill then recorded himself hitting a backflip before racing back to the sideline.
Hill’s celebration was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and the league issued further punishment.
Kevin Fitzgibbons, the videographer, announced on social media on Tuesday that the NFL revoked his credentials for the remainder of the season.
As it turns out, Fitzgibbons, a content creator and student at the University of Miami, has had a relationship with Hill dating several years.
And Hill, in his first comments to reports about the matter, said he would pay Fitzgibbons’ salary for the remainder of the season.
“Me and him are going to continue to work together,” Hill said Thursday, “and whatever the NFL was going to pay him, I told him I was going to make sure I do what’s right and make sure you’re not out of a job. That’s my guy.”
Fitzgibbons said the league told him he “had to be disciplined” and that he should not have celebrated with Hill or jumped around after the celebration.
According to the Athletic, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league “offered him the opportunity to continue collecting content on other projects.”
After the Panther game, Hill said that the celebration was not premeditated.
“It’s just one of those things that kind of happened,” Hill said. “I saw the camera and I just took it from him and he didn’t want me to take it from him. So I just called my shot.”
Hill said he “went through every avenue” to reach out to the NFL and try to change their mind about the punishment, but “those guys already made a decision. They stuck with it, so as men, we’ve got to abide by what they say.”
Hill also doubled down on comments earlier in the week that the 2023 Dolphins are better than the Kansas City Chiefs team he won a Super Bowl with during the 2019 season.
Appearing on CBS Sports’ UEFA Champions League Today in Miami on Tuesday, Hill was asked whether the Dolphins would go to the Super Bowl.
“I’ve won a Super Bowl and I feel like this is the better team than when I was in Kansas City,” he said.
Asked why he believed his current Dolphins team is better, Hill said: “Just look at the stats, man. The stats speak for themselves and also the salary cap.”
The 2019 Chiefs, who won 12 games in the regular season and were the AFC’s No. 2 seed, ranked fifth in scoring offense and seventh in points allowed with a point differential of +143.
The 2023 Dolphins are 8-3 and hold the conference’s fourth seed. Miami ranks second in scoring offense and 22nd in points allowed with a point differential of +88.
