The NFL relaxed its rules on celebrations this offseason. Here at SB Nation, our editorial stance is that this makes the game funner for players and fans alike, and we endorse it wholeheartedly.
2017 NFL celebration rankings: Eagles bowl their way to the top in Week 12
We’ve got a new champion in this week’s rankings.


For the longest time, we enjoyed seeing Antonio Brown twerking in the end zone and Odell Beckham Jr. doing his best Michael Jackson impression, only to have that delight interrupted by a flag and the knowledge that a fine would likely follow. We shouldn’t see any pelvic thrusting this year despite the relaxed rules. It’s still a penalty. But players can dance, use the ball as a prop, and choreograph celebrations with teammates til their hearts’ content.
We’ll be celebrating the celebrations this season by keeping a running list of rankings. At the end of the year we’ll crown a winner.
Here are the latest NFL celebration rankings:
Group category
1. Eagles go bowling
This is brilliant and the timing is perfect.
2. “Electric Slide”
The Eagles hold the top two spots in Week 12 thanks to a nod to everyone’s favorite line dance.
3. Soul Train
The Falcons got a big road win on Monday Night Football against the Seahawks in Week 11. They also jumped to the top of our rankings with the best celebration of the season. Mohamed Sanu Sr. got all of his teammates involved as he went down the Soul Train line.
4. Leapfrog
Heck yes. This was the most fun celebration of the year until the Falcons took over in Week 11, and that’s saying something, because there have been a ton of good ones. Bonus points for involving so many players, especially the unsung heroes, offensive linemen.
5. Potato sack race
After a Travis Kelce touchdown, Tyreek Hill and Demarcus Robinson faced off against him in a potato sack race. Demetrius Harris officiates, and both Robinson and Hill fall down. We don’t want to speculate, but they might have let Kelce win.
6. Duck, duck, goose!
It wasn’t easy to unseat the Colts and their bank heist, but the Vikings pulled it off with a duck, duck, goose celebration in the end zone.
7. Steelers play hide and seek
JuJu Smith-Schuster is a rookie, but he’s already proven he’s one of the most fun players in the league. Case in point: this hide and seek celebration with Le’Veon Bell.
8. Steelers re-enact A.J. Green and Jalen Ramsey fight
This one lands pretty high on the list for creativity alone. It’s a pretty good simulation of the fight. But it’s also unusual, which makes it stand out.
9. Eagles score a touchdown, then hit a home run
Torrey Smith scores to put the Eagles up 20-0, and then he knocks one out of the park. It doesn’t get much better than this.
10. Eagles charge the mound
The Eagles must really love these baseball-themed celebrations. This one was great because it happened during the week of the World Series. Zach Ertz hits Alshon Jeffery with a pitch, and Jeffery charges the mound.
11. Lion King
Awww, look at little football Simba. You can’t go wrong with a nod to the Lion King.
12. Colts pull off a bank heist
It took weeks for someone to knock Taco Charlton out of the top spot. The Colts finally did it with a creative take on a bank robbery.
13. Titans become Temptations impersonators for a minute
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May. I guess you’d say, what can make me feel this way? My girl, my girl, my girl ...
Thanks to the Titans we’ve got that one stuck in our heads.
This was a preseason celebration, but it’s so perfect that we have to count it. As a matter of fact, we’re all convinced this one may be hard to top, period.
If anybody but a guy named Taco tried to pull this off, it would be weird. But for Charlton, it totally works.
15. Le’Veon Bell benches in the end zone
This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “flex on ‘em.”
16. Rob Kelley teaches Morgan Moses how to spike
Now this is teamwork.
17. Eagles coordinate a group spike
It’s simple, yet well-timed and effective.
The Lions have this group celebration thing down, and they’re dominating this category. After a touchdown in Week 3 against the Falcons, Golden Tate and his teammates went all Winter Olympics on us in the end zone.
19. The Bills take a video game break
After a Jordan Matthews score, he and Zay Jones faced off in a pretend video game. Wonder who won?
20. Taylor Gabriel and Julio Jones on a relay team?
Excuse me, USA Track and Field, but this is actually not a bad idea. These two can both fly.
21. Julio Jones is pretty good at fencing, too
Jones went off for 253 yards and two touchdowns against the Buccaneers in Week 12. He also gave us this nifty fencing celebration.
22. Marvin Jones and his teammates Double Dutch
This celebration is the perfect example of why the NFL needed to chill out about group celebrations. When Marvin Jones and his teammates go full-on elementary school kids jumping rope on a playground, it’s the embodiment of fun.
Martavis Bryant scored his first touchdown since 2015 in Week 2 against the Vikings, and he celebrated by throwing some imaginary dice. His teammate Antonio Brown promptly snatched them up.
24. Titans are not worthy of Wesley Woodyard
Are any of these players really old enough to remember Wayne’s World? It doesn’t matter. This is a good one.
25. Deshaun Watson dances with Toro, the Texans’ mascot
Everybody’s having a good time! They should have been. The Texans won 57-14.
26. Packers serving up some chow
Davante Adams dished up some dinner for his teammates, and Randall Cobb was first in line. Maybe it was a Cobb salad.
27. Dalvin is Cookin’
Vikings rookie Dalvin Cook celebrated a trip to the end zone with a play off of his last name. It was unfortunately his last celebration of the season since he tore his ACL and landed on IR later in the game.
Rishard Matthews scored in Week 3 against the Seahawks, and he pulled in teammates Eric Weems and Jonnu Smith for a little photoshoot.
29. Don’t leave Graham Glasgow hanging, guys!
Golden Tate and Marvin Jones celebrated a touchdown with a friendly little fake game of ping pong. But offensive lineman Graham Glasgow just wanted to join in, and the guys gave him the cold shoulder. Our only quarrel with their top-ranked curling celebration is that Glasgow wasn’t around. Include your teammate next time, because otherwise this was a fun one.
30. We legitimately don’t know what the Bengals are even doing here
Kudos for taking advantage of the celebration rules, but tighten up, fellas.
Solo category
1. Juju Schuster-Smith with the Dragon Ball Z nod
Kamehameha!
2. Juju Smith-Schuster locks up his bike
He’s only a rookie, and he’s the youngest player in the NFL. But he sure knows how to celebrate. Smith-Schuster’s bike was stolen. He celebrated a touchdown in the next game by locking up the exercise bike on the sideline. Better safe than sorry.
3. Stefon Diggs pays homage to Randy Moss
This couldn’t have come at a better time, as Diggs honored the Vikings legend on a night when Moss was in the house to be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor. Diggs hit Moss’ classic Splitting the Defense celebration, then went right into a Milly Rock.
4. Odell Beckham Jr. performs CPR on the ball
Sadly, this is the last Beckham celebration we’ll see this year. He’s been placed on IR after having season-ending surgery to repair a broken ankle he suffered in Week 5 against the Chargers. But this was a good one.
5. Tyreek Hill makes a phone call
We don’t know who he’s calling. Saul? Ghostbusters? Carly Rae Jepsen? It doesn’t matter. It’s a fun celebration.
6. Myles Garrett celebrates his first sack with a nod to J.R. Smith
What a way to make his entrance into the NFL.
7. Joe Mixon’s Milly Rock
It’s flawless execution from the rookie.
Playing football is hard work, and everybody needs a nap now and then. Kareem Hunt caught up on some hard-earned rest after scoring a touchdown against the Eagles by catching some Z’s in the end zone.
After scoring a touchdown against the Chargers, Stills’ celebration was an homage to Chargers great LaDainian Tomlinson. Tomlinson was even in the house to see it happen.
10. Adam Thielen can’t contain his excitement
This looks less like a planned celebration and more like Thielen just being super-excited. But we like it.
11. Dion Lewis gets up close and personal
The Patriots running back looked like he wanted to share this celebration with everyone sitting at home and watching his team beat the Broncos.
12. Browns tight end David Njoku spikes the ball into his own butt
This was probably an unintended consequence, but it was hilarious.
Clowney celebrated his pick-six against Tom Brady and the Patriots in the best possible way.
14. Travis Kelce’s got moves
Technically this could be a group celebration, but Kelce steals the show, so he’s getting the solo nod here.
15. Charcandrick West’s sassy dance
There’s something to be said for a good old-fashioned touchdown celebration dance. That’s what West gave us in the Chiefs’ win over the Texans in Week 5.
16. Tie - Mack Hollins and Mark Ingram are both Backpack Kid
Much like Backpack Kid stole Katy Perry’s spotlight on Saturday Night Live, these guys tried to show each other up with their own versions of Backpack Kid’s dance.
17. Stefon Diggs punts a ball to Mars
We need to ask Marquette King to analyze Diggs’ form, but he gets some pretty good air under this one.
18. Cam Newton brought back the dab
Newton said the dab was dead, then proved the dab can never die.
19. Cam’s really got to expand his repertoire
All of this buildup for his same old Superman celebration. Sigh.
20. Yeah, we don’t even know
What’s this celebration? We have no idea.
Basketball-related category
1. Demetrius Harris shoots a free throw while Tyreek Hill plays the part of the hoop
The Chiefs made another strong case in favor of group celebrations in their season-opening win over the Patriots. Harris got into the end zone, and his teammates joined him for a little basketball-themed celebration.
These basketball-themed celebrations are pretty popular. Freeman scored two touchdowns in Atlanta’s Week 2 win over the Packers, and he celebrated his first score by shooting a free throw through his teammate Andy Levitre’s arms. NBC celebrated, too, by playing the old NBA on NBC theme song.
3. Vintage Vernon Davis
Davis has to be so happy he won’t get fined for this one anymore.



























































