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When do touchdown celebrations go too far?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The, Apr 8, 2004 by RICK BRAUN
When do touchdown celebrations go too far?
By RICK BRAUN
Thursday, April 8, 2004
Green Bay -- Years back, the National Football League started fining players for excessive celebrations. For that, some folks suggested that NFL stood for No Fun League.
Nowadays, those celebrations would be considered tame.
And because of the new level to which some celebrations have risen, the NFL has decided it's time to crack down again. And this time the powers that be are getting serious.
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At the owners meetings last week, owners voted, 31-1, to assess a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for any choreographed celebration involving two or more players.
The new rule prohibits two or more players engaging in "prolonged, excessive, premeditated or choreographed celebrations."
A 15-yard penalty can decide a game. One game can decide a playoff berth. And a playoff berth earned is a possibility of winning it all.
But in announcing its new rule, the NFL might have opened a can of worms for itself.
Simply put, what's "excessive" or "prolonged" will be purely a subjective matter.
What's excessive to one game official might not be excessive to another.
Is it excessive for a wide receiver to celebrate a first down by pointing toward the goal line in the traditional "first-down" signal made by referees? Is it excessive to spin the ball on the ground after a big catch?
Are those acts of taunting? Maybe, maybe not. If those simple celebrations are taken out of the game, some of the natural exuberance will also be lost.
Now that's not to say the NFL didn't need to do something about what has become somewhat of an epidemic.
Two seasons ago, wide receiver Terrell Owens scored a touchdown for the San Francisco 49ers and then took a pen out of his sock, autographed the ball and handed it to a friend in the end zone stands. Later that season, Owens scored a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers and grabbed the pompoms of a 49er cheerleader and pretended he was a cheerleader for a moment.
Last year New Orleans receiver Joe Horn scored a touchdown and then went to the goal post, where he'd hidden a cell phone. Horn proceeded to make a mock phone call. Later that week he proceeded to pay a hefty fine.
Owens, in fact, might have started the need for the crackdown seasons ago when his post-touchdown celebration in Dallas included running to the middle of the field and spiking the ball on the Dallas star. When he did it again, he got nailed by Dallas safety George Teague, and a brawl broke out.
So where is the line? More important, where should it be?
First off, let's decide which of the past celebrations went over the top. And it's not really that hard to figure out.
Owens' "Sharpie" celebration and his Dallas "star stomp" crossed the line. Horn's cell phone call crossed the line and Owens' pompom routine didn't.
Why?
Simple. The Sharpie and cell phone celebrations involved props -- items not found as part of a football field or uniform. The routines were premeditated and the props were planted. Owens' actions in Dallas were meant to show up the Cowboys.
Maybe Owens' pompom routine was premeditated, but he didn't have to plant the props. And more likely it seemed to be more of a spontaneous celebration.
And that's the point here. Spontaneity is good. It's exuberance. It's fun. It's the Lambeau Leap in its early stages. It's what we like about the game.
Premeditated -- with props -- is bad. It's trying to draw attention to one's self. It's trying to show up the other team. It's what we don't like about the game.
So when the referees get around to handing out penalties and the league office gets around to handing out fines, here's hoping they allow the spontaneity. And here's hoping they stop the showing up of opponents, the incessant drawing of attention to one's self.
Some of us remember when spiking the football was a new thing. And then in the early '70s, Kansas City wide receiver Elmo Wright began preceding his spike with a high-stepping touchdown dance -- a sort- of running in place with the knees up.
Today, the Lambeau Leap isn't so much a spontaneous thing. But it's an exuberant celebration with the fans, for the fans in those front rows behind the end zones. And at times, two or three or more players join the touchdown scorer along the end zone walls.
So the mind wonders: Will a flag fly the next time a Packer player does a Lambeau Leap if he's joined by teammates?
If that happens, a great part of the game will be gone.
Copyright 2004 Journal Sentinel Inc. Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
Sicher hat der eine oder andere einen solchen schon gemacht. Aber was, wenn man in der Endzone steht? Spiken - verboten, Gesten zum Gegner - verboten, Mitspieler "abschießen" - verboten...
