The 8 most fun moments of the NFL season so far

OK, we get it: it’s been a down season in the NFL. Ratings have dropped and there don’t appear to be many elite teams. But it hasn’t been all bad. Believe it or not, there have been many exciting and fun moments. It’s about time those got celebrated, too, amidst this morass of negativity.

Few initiatives have generated as much backlash as the NFL’s decision to crack down on taunting and celebrations. Several players, including Washington cornerback Josh Norman — who was penalized for miming a bow and arrow in Week 4 — have spoken out against this new initiative.

“I think we have a double standard as a league,” Norman said last month, via 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C.

“The league isn’t fun anymore,” Richard Sherman said this week. “This isn’t politics, this isn’t justice, this is entertainment. And they’re not letting the players entertain.”

As the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns demonstrated with their responses to the NFL’s anti-GIF edict, there are amusing ways to get back at the league for its Big Brother-like policies. Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins’ touchdown “celebration” in Week 5 is a perfect example of that. It’s one of many highlights from the first half of the season.

When Hawkins caught a touchdown against the New England Patriots in Week 5, he didn’t dance or show an ounce of emotion. Instead, he placed the ball on the ground, and walked away like a robot.

After the game, Hawkins admitted he was trolling the league. Well done, sir. Well done. — Alex Reimer

There are two ways to look at this game: You may think 1) that this was a bad game, and buddy, I don’t know if I can dissuade of that, but 2) I have not been so outrageously entertained by a comedy of errors in a sports game like that in a very long time, and no ending that uproarious should be considered anything but great.

We sometimes forget to acknowledge improbabilities when they aren’t very nice. Perfect games in baseball are celebrated because because they are so rare and they are the product of really good pitching. Well, two missed chip shot field goals on back-to-back drives to end an overtime period in a tie is even more rare than a perfect game. Who cares if they reflect dysfunction?

^ That happened and I laughed my ass off.

^ That happened and I SCREAMED. Keep in mind that Steven Hauschka blew that kick at the end of a football game that had gone the maximum length it can in the NFL, and that the game occurred at the end of a day that began at 9:30 a.m. ET because of a London kickoff and then toed into the wee hours of Monday morning, past midnight, so that if you watched every single minute of football you possibly could, the last thing your desiccated eyes saw before you collapsed was the mother of all flubbed kicks just minutes after what you previously thought was the mother of all flubbed kicks.

Sports have rarely played a more beautiful joke.

— Louis Bien

The only win for the San Francisco 49ers through the first eight weeks was a 28-0 demolition of the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, and it was boring. Even the winning quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, finished the game with just 170 passing yards.

So when a fan ran on the field, took off his shirt, and ran away from security, Westwood One radio announcer Kevin Harlan took full advantage of the situation.

Most fans had tuned out by the time the fourth quarter rolled around for a blowout in the second part of a Monday Night Football doubleheader. But Harlan did his best to make even the slightest exciting moment, the most exciting moment of the year. Mission accomplished. — Adam Stites

Look, there’s only so much pleasure to be derived from watching Ryan Tannehill overthrow Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills, DeVante Parker, and the rest of the “remember how awesome we were in college?” crew every Sunday. Miami games had devolved into hate watching before Week 6 gave us a true hero in South Beach. Jay Ajayi became your fantasy league’s most wanted waiver wire pickup after running for 204 yards against the Steelers, then shredded your fantasy team by springing for 214 the very next week.

Even better, he’s making defenders look stupid doing it, like the time he shook a pair of Bills and made them look as competent as Foot Clan soldiers in the process:

Jay Ajayi, thank you for making Miami watchable again. — Christian D’Andrea

I love Mike Zimmer. The Vikings have been generally fun to watch because the defense is so dominant, but Minnesota is also worth watching for Mike Zimmer’s reactions on the sideline.

The Vikings have dropped two games in a row, but it really doesn’t matter if his team is winning or not. You can usually find Zimmer cussing up a storm.

For instance, this was Zimmer expressing frustration with his team during a 24-10 win over the New York Giants in Week 4.

Zimmer’s Vikings never trailed in this game, and took a 14-3 lead into halftime. That didn’t matter to Zimmer, who continued to swear loudly about how his team was playing.

Never change, Mike Zimmer. — Jeanna Thomas

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a net.”

You know how the story. Two people meet, they bicker with a fiery passion, and eventually the sexual tension is too much for both and they get their Moonlighting on.

Hate at first sight is a highly irresistible trope, and one of the reasons it seduces us is that it’s complete fantasy. None of us have actually seen a loathing-to-loving romance unfold in real life. At least, not until Odell Beckham Jr. met a special lil someone called a kicking net.

The two started off on the wrong foot, but soon they were friends and things escalated from there. *Swoon*

“I proposed, she said yes, so me and the net are gonna get married, sometime soon,” Beckham said later. “Hopefully it all works out. I’m 23, I don’t know much about marriage but she seems like a pretty good gal.”

Yes, OBJ went full-on ridiculous with it, but the kind of ridiculousness that the NFL needs more of. — Sarah Hardy

It was more of a hip thrust than a twerk. But he tried, and that’s all that matters.

It was the first Monday night game of the year, and Brown wasted no time in having fun. After scoring a touchdown, Brown just let loose.

Thank you, Antonio Brown. For not only being you, but for making the game more fun. Even if it does cost you thousands of dollars. — Harry Lyles Jr.

Just your typical Patriots-Bills game. New England was driving down the field. They had just moved the ball inside Buffalo’s 5-yard line, and that’s when out of the stands came a flying phallus.

Feel free to make your own sound effects as you watch the video. Personally, I like that THWONGGGGGG sound a rubber band makes.

No story about an adult novelty on the field in a Pats-Bills game would be complete without a quote from Rob Gronkowski — who also scored his 69th career touchdown in this game (nice). And he delivered.

I’m not a TV ratings expert, but if the NFL could find a way to put more sex toys into the hands of Bills fans, I can guarantee you that a ratings spike will follow. — Ryan Van Bibber