NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints receiver Joe Horn was fined $30,000 by the NFL on Tuesday for making a choreographed cell-phone call in the end zone to celebrate a touchdown.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed the amount of the fine. Horn's agent, Ralph Vitolo, said the player will appeal.
"Fining him is one thing, but to me that's very excessive. This is not a murder case," Vitolo said.
The Saints did not immediately comment.
Return specialist Michael Lewis was fined $5,000 for helping orchestrate the stunt, and Horn told Vitolo that he would pay that fine.
After catching the second of four touchdown passes in a 45-7 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday, Horn was handed a phone by Lewis, who pulled it out from under the padding used to protect the goal post. Horn was still wearing his helmet when he punched in numbers, put the phone to the earhole and spoke into it for a few seconds.
"Would I take it back? No, no. I knew exactly what I was doing," Horn said after the game.
The Saints were penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct for the stunt.
Horn was fined for unsportsmanlike conduct for the second time this season and the seventh time since 2000, Aiello said.
Head coach Jim Haslett said the team would not punish Horn but that he was disappointed in the receiver's "selfish" act.
The Tennessee Titans hoped to rest banged-up quarterback Steve McNair this week. Billy Volek's lacerated spleen put an end to those plans.
McNair is nursing an injured ankle and right calf, but because Tennessee has yet to secure a playoff spot, he might be called upon against the Houston Texans on Sunday.
That's because Volek, a little-known backup, is out for the season after being hurt Sunday while leading the Titans to a 28-26 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
That leaves rookie Jason Gesser, signed as an undrafted free agent, as the only healthy option. Gesser has yet to play a down in the NFL.
So it looks as if the Titans (10-4) will turn to McNair, one of the NFL's most durable quarterbacks. He has played with injuries often during a streak of 43 straight starts that ended last week.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher said it was too early Tuesday to say if McNair would start Sunday.
WANNSTEDT'S FUTURE: Miami Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt flipped through the play-by-play on his way home early Tuesday, reliving every down and trying to figure out what went wrong.
He found plenty. Missed tackles, costly penalties and dropped passes were mostly to blame for Monday night's 34-27 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The loss was Miami's second in a row, leaving the Dolphins on the verge of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season and saddling them with constant questions about Wannstedt's uncertain future.
"I'm not really concerned about it," Wannstedt said Tuesday. "I'm just concerned about this game. And that's what the players are concerned about. There's not enough time to get caught up in all that stuff."
The Dolphins (8-6) could miss the playoffs even if they win their final two games against Buffalo and the New York Jets. They need Denver (9-5) to lose at Indianapolis and at Green Bay to have a chance at making the postseason.
PRO BOWL VOTE: Steve McNair led all NFL players in fan voting for the Pro Bowl after being ignored last season, when the Tennessee Titans were shut out of the league's all-star game.
The quarterback received 896,189 votes in the Internet vote followed by Kansas City running back Priest Holmes and Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning. Wide receiver Randy Moss of Minnesota was fourth and tight end Tony Gonzalez of Kansas City was fifth.
Fan voting counts for one-third of the vote for the Feb. 8 Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Coaches and players count the other two-thirds in the selection, which will be announced Thursday.
A record 55 million fans cast votes.