As expected, Puka Nacua has been hit with a fine over the first of his two referee rants this week.
The NFL formally docked the Rams wide receiver $25,000 on Friday, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported.
Nacua went scorched earth on league officials while appearing on an Adin Ross livestream Tuesday, after he was asked if he believed “the refs be bulls—tting sometimes.”
“Oh,” he responded, “100 percent.”
Nacua went on to call them “the worst,” before he accused them of throwing flags in order to get camera time.
“These guys are lawyers,” he said. “They want to be on TV too, bro. You don’t think he’s texting his friends in the group chat like, ‘Yo, you guys just saw me on ‘Sunday Night Football.’ Like, that wasn’t (pass interference), but I called it.’”
Nacua later doubled down on his stance following Los Angeles’ 38-37 overtime loss to the Seahawks in Seattle on “Thursday Night Football.”
“Can you say I was wrong,” he wrote in a now-deleted post on X. “Appreciate you stripes for your contribution. Lol.”
His tweet led to an an awkward and tense postgame moment when Rams coach Sean McVay was asked about the post but did not know what had transpired.
The funds for the fine might not end up coming out of Nacua’s wallet in the end, as Ross actually said on a livestream Thursday night he’d pick up the tab for the 24-year-old receiver whenever the financial penalty came down.
“I’m making it very clear,” Ross told his followers, “I’m paying his f–king fine. I’m paying his fine. Yo, bro, I will pay his fine proudly and gladly.”
