Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill said Thursday that he intends to pay the salary of photographer Kevin Fitzgibbons, who was suspended by the NFL due to his role in one of Hill’s touchdown celebrations earlier this season.
Back in Week 6, after scoring a touchdown against the Panthers, Hill ran up to Fitzgibbons in the back of the end zone and grabbed his phone before proceeding to take a selfie with it while doing a backflip, generating an excited response from the cameraman.
Fitzgibbons announced in a viral social media post on Tuesday that the NFL had suspended his credentials for the remainder of the season, and potentially for good.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Hill revealed that he’d decided to cover Fitzgibbons’ lost wages.
“Me and K-Fitz, we’ve got a long history together. The news is something that I already knew. I told him don’t let this get to you. Just hold your head up. You’re still young. Continue to do what you love. Me and him are going to continue to work together,” said Hill, via ESPN.
“I told him I was going to cover his salary, whatever the NFL was going to pay him or whatever. I told him I was going to make sure that I do what’s right and take care of you, make sure you’re not out of a job. That’s my guy,” he added.
Fitzgibbons is a 20-year-old student at the University of Miami and has been contracted by the NFL since 2022.
“One of the best moments of my life turned upside down in a matter of seconds,” he said of the celebration and subsequent discipline in his social media post, though he said he understands the NFL’s decision on the matter.
