Touchdown celebrations make the NFL more fun, but the league has cracked down on them. Last year, players were routinely flagged and fined for celebration dances. Referees would like the league to ease up on these penalties.
NFL referees wish league would stop penalizing player celebrations
It would make officials’ jobs easier.
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
Part of the problem with the rules about celebrations is that they’re not clearly defined. Scott Green, the head of the NFL Referees’ Association, said on Sirius XM Radio that it would be easier for officials if they didn’t have to make snap judgments about which celebrations are worthy of a penalty.
“Nothing is worse than someone going 80 yards for a touchdown and then we’re trying to figure out does that warrant a flag for what he’s doing in the end zone,” Green said, according to Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. “We don’t really enjoy that.”
The league considered easing up on punishing players for touchdown dances, but it’s actually considering keeping penalties in place and moving away from fines instead. But officials would prefer the league handle punishments for celebrations with fines instead of penalties.
“The issue we’ll still have is that guys can get pretty creative out there,” Green said. “The question of whether it’s a foul or not a foul, hopefully we’ll get closer to more of a black-and-white situation.”
It would be easier for everyone, and more fun for fans, if the league would just stop penalizing players for celebrations.
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