Ultimate Online Forums
Go Back   Ultimate Online Forums > Off Topic Forums > Off Topic Area > Hot Topics

Hot Topics For discussion on main news stories hitting the headlines.

Hot Topics Thread, Touchdown celebrations may be penalized in Off Topic Area
 
Thread Tools
Old 28th March 2006, 11:33 AM   #1
SoccerMom
Guest
 
SoccerMom's Avatar
 
Posts: n/a
Touchdown celebrations may be penalized

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Bad news might be on the horizon for Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson and the other purveyors of outrageous touchdown celebrations.

The NFL's competition committee is proposing a crackdown on rocking the baby, teeing off like Tiger and anything else that might be considered taunting.

This isn't particularly new. The league has smacked down celebrators who went over the top before. Remember T.O.'s dancing on the Dallas star in Texas Stadium? Or Johnson revealing a small sign asking not to be fined by commissioner Paul Tagliabue?

Or, of course, Joe Horn's hidden cell phone trick in New Orleans?

But committee chairmen Jeff Fisher, coach of the Tennessee Titans, and Rich McKay, general manger of the Atlanta Falcons, believe enforcement hasn't been strict enough recently.

"Individual celebration was getting out of hand," Fisher said Monday at the NFL meetings. "The players' association was unanimous in wanting to get this under control."

So spiking the ball in the end zone will be OK. And spinning it on the ground, or dunking it over the goalpost. Dancing in the end zone is fine, too, as long as it's not prolonged or a group effort.

Almost all other celebrations will be out if the committee's recommendation to clamp down further on the frivolities is passed by the owners.

The new emphasis on unsportsmanlike conduct penalties will call for a 15-yard mark-off on the ensuing kickoff against the offending team, and possible fines.

Players can't use props for any celebrations, and they can't be on the ground when they do their thing. Asked what happens if a player is tackled in the end zone and begins celebrating while down, Fisher said it would be a penalty.

"Get up and dance," he said, prompting laughter at a news conference.

"If they go to the ground to score and feel compelled to do something, get up!" McKay added.

"We've allowed those things to creep back. They are not necessary and should not be allowed."

The committee also will suggest:

-- Down by contact calls be subject to instant replay review, a proposal that was voted down last year. Currently, a play is dead once the whistle blows and the ballcarrier is ruled down by the officials. McKay said that last season there were 18 to 20 plays when the ball came out of a player's grasp before he was ruled down.

The proposed change would allow any turnover to stand if replay showed the ball came loose before the whistle. No subsequent runbacks with the ball would count, however.

-- Modifying illegal procedure to allow receivers to flinch if they get back into position before the play and the defense doesn't react to the move.

-- Toughening enforcement on pass rushers who hit quarterbacks below the knees, as long as the defensive players could have avoided making the hit. One play that didn't prompt such a point of emphasis, McKay said, was in last year's playoffs on Cincinnati's Carson Palmer by Kimo von Oelhoffen, then with Pittsburgh, that severely injured Palmer's knee. McKay said it was clear von Oelhoffen didn't make any intentional move to hit Palmer, but simply rolled into the quarterback.

-- Just like quarterbacks, one defensive player might be allowed direct communication with the coaches next season. The committee will recommend that a defense has the same option as an offense in that area. As of now, quarterbacks get instructions through a small speaker in the helmet until there are 15 seconds remaining on the play clock.

"We hope to get away from offenses -- I don't want to say stealing, so borrowing -- signals from the sideline (for defenses)," McKay said.

Also this week, Tagliabue plans to begin the process of selecting his successor, although he wasn't certain Monday when a committee will be established to begin the search.

Nor did the owners seem in a hurry.

"It's not a race for speed, it's a race for success," said Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. "This is the CEO of a 32-team operation, so it's not the speed, it's the quality."
  Return to Top Reply With Quote
Old 28th March 2006, 11:39 AM   #2
 
Dragonreborn_KmR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Shard: Sonoma
Posts: 117
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Dragonreborn_KmR is unknown
Re: Touchdown celebrations may be penalized

They should also just call fouls on ball players for trash talking and DQ a race driver every time they bump someone and why their at it ban all dunks......

pffft, just let them play the game.
__________________
Dragonreborn_KmR is offline   Return to Top Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Market and Closing Ceremony - 9th Anniversary Celebrations (Tonight 7.30pm UK Time) Tanya Town Crier 0 21st October 2007 03:38 AM
Games Night - 9th Anniversary Celebrations (Day 3) - Tonight Tanya Town Crier 1 17th October 2007 02:23 PM
Grd 9th Anniversary Celebrations Lady Arianne Knights of The Prophecy 0 13th October 2007 06:11 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0
Template-Modifications by TMS