ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The NFL fined Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson $10,000 for a touchdown celebration in which he mocked New York Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress by mimicking shooting himself in the thigh.
A person familiar with the league's disciplinary action informed The Associated Press of the fine Wednesday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the league hasn't made an announcement.
"He can pay for it," Burress said with a straight face, when informed of Johnson's fine. "He can afford it."
Johnson declined to confirm if he had been punished, except to say he had an overnight courier envelope from the NFL waiting for him at his locker when he arrived for practice. Johnson left the envelope unopened because he expected to find inside formal notification of his fine.
Johnson made light of the envelope on his Twitter account by referring to it as "the Random FedEx Package in My Locker" and posting a picture of it.
Otherwise, Johnson said he was done discussing the celebration -- and the national criticism he received as a result of it -- and is instead focusing on looking forward to helping the Bills (5-6) end a four-game slump Sunday .
Fair or foul?
Bills WR Steve Johnson ruffled a few feathers when he mocked Plaxico Burress after a TD catch Sunday. Was the celebration
in poor taste? **More ...**
"If I do, I get fined. But we've got to move on," Johnson said. "It's the Tennessee Titans. I'm not really worried about a fine right now. It's part of the game. People get fined. But we've still got a football game on Sunday."
Using his hands as pistols, Johnson pretended to shoot himself in the thigh, a move that was directed at Burress, who wound up serving 20 months in prison for shooting himself in a New York nightclub in 2008.
Johnson didn't stop there. He then imitated a jet in flight before crashing to the turf. That proved particularly costly, because he was flagged 15 yards for going to the ground.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press