Bengals wide receiver wins appeal against NFL for controversial touchdown celebration

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Andrei Iosivas is having a winning week.

Not only did the Bengals get their first victory of the season over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but Iosivas also won his appeal against the NFL for the fine he was hit with for a touchdown celebration in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. After scoring six, Iosivas pretended to shoot and bow-and-arrow into the air to celebrate the score.

Andrei Iosivas' $5,305 fine rescinded by the league

The league deemed the celebration a "violent gesture" and docked him $5,305. Upon review though, the fine was rescinded, leaving Iosivas pleased with the ultimate outcome.

"I beat the case. I'm pretty happy about that," Iosivas said. "Saved a lot of money,

“I said, 'Look, they do it for archery ... they shoot it up in the air for celebrations,” he explained. “There's a lot of evidence there that it's not violent. I wasn't shooting it at anybody. There was no malicious intent at all behind it."

Iosivas is not the first player to use the bow-and-arrow celebration. Brandin Cooks and Josh Norman were both well-known for using it in the past, and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has also pulled it out.

If the fine hadn't been rescinded, Iosivas already had a plan in mind for his next celebration.

“If they didn't take back the fine, I actually had something planned," he said. "I was gonna fake pull the bow and then recoil it back in. But they gave my money back, so maybe I'll hold on to that. Or maybe I'll still do it."

If Iosivas continues to produce like he has so far this season, he should have plenty of opportunity to pull out some more celebrations. Through four games, the second-year receiver has 114 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He had a total of 116 yards and four touchdowns all of last season, so he's almost matched his production from his entire rookie campaign already. Cincinnati's has had some struggles early on, but Iosivas' development has been a bright spot.