In the 2017-2018 season both Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, and the NFL itself have implemented a new celebration rule to give players more freedom to create unique celebrations after scoring a touchdown during games. The rule now allows players to celebrate on the ground and to also celebrate as a group.
The type of celebrations that aren’t still allowed include sexual taunts, offensive imagery, violence, and the use of the football as a prop. Last season Josh Norman of the Washington Redskin’s top cornerbacks was fined for pretending as if he shot an arrow. The Steeler’s wide receiver Antonio Brown got fined for twerking after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Redskins. Some players found ways around getting away with the excessive celebrations. Former NFL player Jared Allen would keep his knee right above the ground so it wasn’t considered being on the ground celebrating.
Players have broken the rule many times because they do not seem to care about the rule. Roger Goodell and the NFL saw the fine cost and number of penalties rise and he wanted to limit those numbers. The total cost of fines for excessive celebration penalties in the past three seasons is $470,974. Players will no longer be fined for using the ball as a prop. For example, last season Terrelle Pryor, a former Cleveland Brown, used the ball as chalk to mimic a fellow Cleveland star, Lebron James.
Many players have become creative with the celebrations and they really want to show them off. Some members of the Philadelphia Eagles offense took advantage of the rule in the blowout win against the Arizona Cardinals in week five. The Eagle’s wide receiver simulated a baseball situation by having one player pitch a fake ball and he would hit a homerun with the football. The NFL really embraced that celebration by placing it all over their social media. The wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, Golden Tate III, celebrated in week 6 by doing the people’s elbow. Both the WWE and The Rock tweeted about the celebration and it became a social media stir.
With the variety of celebrations that have taken place this year and the new rule that has gone into effect, this is sure to be a very interesting season.