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Troy Vincent Says NFL Is Developing Video to Show Players Proper Celebrations
March 23, 2017
The NFL plans to roll out an educational video that will clearly define for players which celebrations will and will not draw penalties moving forward.
Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, confirmed the plans Wednesday on Twitter:
Green Bay Packers tight end Martellus Bennett didn't shy away from making his feelings known about the video:
Vincent's announcement comes on the heels of a report from ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert, which indicated the league hoped to "relax anti-celebration rules that have vexed players and fans in recent years."
USA Today's Tom Pelissero reported the same and noted there is a "strong sense that changes are coming to clarify the rules, focusing in part on the duration of some acts, which could ease pressure on officials to over-enforce and reverse the surge in celebration fouls that brought a fresh round of complaints last season about the 'No Fun League.'"
Pelissero also reported there were 30 "demonstration" penalties in 2016, which represented a significant increase considering 29 were called during the 2014 and 2015 campaigns combined.
The 2016 season featured a slew of high-profile celebrations that were penalized, including a now-infamous thrust from Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown that came in his team's Week 1 win over Washington.
On the other end of the spectrum, then-Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor received a monetary slap on the wrist after he paid homage to LeBron James in a fairly innocuous manner, as NFL Network documented on Twitter:
Based on the wide range of celebrations that drew flags and fines last season, players will undoubtedly be anxious to discover whether they'll have more freedom upon breaking the plane in 2017.
However, as Bennett opined, anything short of free reign in the end zone may not be enough to keep players happy.