The Mantuary

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Last year, Georgia redefined the term excessive celebration when they tried to prove a point in their game against Florida. 

This year, the NCAA has beefed up their position on excessive celebration and are now calling a 15 yard penalty for “Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves)“. 

Last Saturday, Bowling Green fans were quickly reminded of this new rule when DE Diyral Briggs sacked Pitt’s quarterback Bill Stull in the 4th quarter.  Diyral followed up his game changing performance with a fist pump and the referees quickly countered with a game changing penalty of their own: instead of facing a third-and-13 at its own 17, Pitt ended up with a first down on its 32…at a very crucial point of the game where Pitt was trying to stage a comeback.  

I’ll be the first to admit the football field is not the place for excessive drama but you really start messing with the game when you try and curb the instinctual emotion that comes from great plays.  I’m not endorsing Terrell Owens’ end-zone celebrations or doing the “robot” after running back an interception.  Hell, if I want drama like that, I’ll turn on soccer  and watch a bunch of guys that look more like hair dressers than athletes run around like they’ve been freed from a POW camp every time a goal is scored.  But if you are going to penalize a guy for making a fist pump when sacking a QB on his own 17, that’s ridiculous. 

Speaking from experience, there is an emotional element of any competition you simply can not and should not try to control – fist pumps and knocking helmets with your teammates is emotion… hell, even golfers experience this.  Let me be clear, signing footballs with a sharpie in the end zone is bullshit drama that should be saved for the guys wearing tights on Broadway, but throwing your fist in the air after a great play is triggered by pure adrenaline, and any effort to kill that kind of emotion kills the game itself.

Be A Man.

-The Founding Father

Filed under: Football, Rants, Sports & Leisure