Raiders Apparently Exempt From the Heavenly Veneration Loophole

Raiders corner Chris Johnson was flagged for excessive celebration Sunday following an interception when he fell on bended knee and extended his arms toward the sky, or where the sky would be if the Reliant Stadium roof were retracted. ↵↵Johnson was a tad outraged, given that it was the same celebration that he did after his previous three career interceptions. As he told the San Francisco Chroncle, “I’m just getting on my knees giving my respect to God. I don’t see how that’s a personal foul or anything like that.”↵

↵↵And while the NFL has a rule banning players from going to the ground to celebrate a touchdown, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira, would seem to agree in this case with Johnson, at least if you go by what Pereira told NFL Network’s Rich Eisen during a Sept. 10 appearance. ↵

↵↵⇥“There’s only going to be one time you’re going to be allowed to go one your knees … and that’s when you want to praise The Lord. If you do that, then I’m going to allow that because I do not want to be struck by lightning.”↵↵↵In a week where the Ravens are contesting an unequal application of the Brady Rule, the celebration standard seems like the rule more in need of clarification.↵
↵
↵(H/T to SportsbyBrooks)↵

↵