Remember when Jimmy Graham made a go-ahead touchdown against the Falcons and then proceeded to do his trademark dunk over the goal post to celebrate his feat? Remember that he hit the thing a little too hard and bent the whole goal posts off center to the right? Then some guys with the biggest level that anyone had ever seen had to come out and put the thing right once more. There was quite a delay in the action while this process was taking place.
That little scene, probably more than the celebration itself, was likely one of the major reasons that the NFL has now banned that particular ceremony under threat of 15 yard penalty.
There has been a regulation in place for some time barring the use of the football as a prop during touchdown celebrations. Actually it says any props at all but mostly the rule is aimed at the football itself.
It’s ironic that the rule was put in place soon after the retirement of the player who made it famous in the first place, Tony Gonzalez, formally with the Atlanta Falcons. Gonzalez responded to the move via Twitter: “The NFL says no more dunking over the goalpost. This one I don’t understand. Looks like I got out just in time.”
Other players, along with fans and coaches, have reacted negitavely to the change but the league probably has a valid point in making the new rule. It has already been proven on national TV, that goal post can be bent out of shape and some even worry that they could actually come down under the wrong circumstances.
Dean Blandino, the NFL’s VP of Officiating told the world on the Dan Patrick Show that, starting in the 2014 season, dunking over the crossbar will be penalized. “We grandfathered in some, the Lambeau Leap and things like that. But dunking will come out. Using the ball as a prop or any object as a prop, whether that’s the goal post, the crossbar, that will come out and that will be a foul next season.”
Of course, criticisum for the change started to pour in shortly after the announcement. One writer asked, “What constitutes dunking for that penalty? Do you have to make contact with the crossbar? Are lay ups and jump shots still OK?
Then Joe Posanski summed it up nicely, “The NFL makes dunking ball over goalpost a penalty a few minutes after Tony Gonzalez retires. This league can be baffling.”
