NFL reveals punishment for Vernon Hargeaves III on ridiculous Super Bowl mistake

The National Football League has announced on Saturday that they have fined Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III $5,555 for coming off the bench in street clothes to celebrate following Jessie Bates’ interception of Matthew Stafford in the end zone. The celebration came at the two-minute warning in the first half of Super Bowl LVI. Hargeaves was inactive for the game.

The Bengals were trailing the game 13-10 in the first half of the Super Bowl. After Bates’ interception, Hargreaves III grabbed a towel and started running onto the field and into the end zone to celebrate with his teammates. The move was heavily criticized online during the game. You can watch the video on Twitter here.

The play drew an unsportsmanlike penalty, which meant half the distance to the goal line. The Bengals were then backed up on their own 10-yard line once the penalty was assessed.

There was no penalty or fine for Rams head coach Sean McVay for doing essentially the same thing Hargreaves did, on Week 18. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted that McVay could have been fined or penalized for leaving the bench area as a non-player. The referees chose to not penalize the Rams head coach for leaving the bench, nor did he get fined by the league.

Vernon Hargreaves III college and pro career

In college, Hargreaves established himself as one of the best cover corners in all of college football. As a true freshman in 2013, he snatched three interceptions en route to first team All-SEC honors. As a sophomore, he tallied three interceptions, 13 passes defended, and two fumble recoveries. As a junior, he picked off four passes for the Gators.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Hargreaves with the 11th selection in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. A move to the slot corner position, helped his numbers tremendously in 2017, per PFF. Still, there’s no denying Hargreaves’ tape at the NFL level has been nowhere near the level he played in college. Per PFF’s Sam Monson, he had a PFF grade under 50 this year, among the worst in the league.