NFL relaxes rules against end zone celebrations
By Matt Conner
Roger Goodell cites more than 80 conversations with former and current players before making the decision to ease rules against end zone celebrations.
The acronym NFL might just end up meaning National Football League after all, instead of the oft-told joke No Fun League. In recent years, the league has cracked down on end zone celebrations for reasons that stymied everyone, from fans to players to coaches and broadcasters, who all wondered what harm could really come from a player being so happy or emotional after scoring a touchdown that he wanted to celebrate.
Certainly there are limits and extremes to anything, and the NFL will likely remain vigilant to penalize someone who turns to taunting or some other sort of act, but for now Roger Goodell has announced that the NFL is relaxing its current rules.
"Today, we are excited to tell you about another change that comes after conversations with more than 80 current and former players: we are relaxing our rules on celebrations to allow players more room to have fun after they make big plays.We know that you love the spontaneous displays of emotion that come after a spectacular touchdown. And players have told us they want more freedom to be able to express themselves and celebrate their athletic achievements."
Goodell says he had conversations with more than 80 players, both retired and current, before making the decision to ease the restrictions. He did however identify three categories for acts that will still be penalized:
- Any celebration that features an offensive demonstration
- Any celebration that delays the game
- Any celebration directed toward an opponent
This is a great move from the league’s commissioner and as often as he takes the blame or criticism for the negative things about the NFL, he deserves equal credit for realizing how silly these rules were in the first place. Kudos to Goodell for going back and making this issue right.