Even NFL Referees Want to Get Rid of Celebration Penalties

NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green told Alex Marvez and Zig Fracassi during an SiriusXM NFL Radio interview that the league's referees would prefer to do away with celebration penalties (h/t Sporting News):

"

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. We don't really enjoy that. If we could get to a point where it would simply be fines by the league, that would be great.

The issue we'll still have is that guys can get pretty creative out there. 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.

"

The NFL, however, is reportedly considering doing the opposite—penalizing players for excessive celebrations but not fining them—according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

"As a practical matter, this approach shifts the focus to the teams, and it gives the teams an even greater incentive to insist on compliance and accountability," Florio wrote. "With the league no longer punishing the player who celebrates in a manner that draws a flag, maybe the coach will be more willing to do so himself."

Troy Vincent, the league's executive vice president of football operations, said in March that the NFL would put out an instructional video to aid players:

Some change appears to be needed after 30 excessive celebration penalties were called in the 2016 season, per Kalyn Kahler of The MMQB. That was a dramatic increase from recent years, with just 34 excessive celebration penalties called from the 2013 to 2015 seasons.

And that, in turn, has fans and players alike agreeing that the NFL has gotten boring.

"Everything was down this year—TV viewers, people watching—and why is that?" Carolina Panthers wideout Devin Funchess said, per Kahler. "Because we can't have fun. Nobody wants to watch a boring league. The Not Fun League, that's what we call it. It's not fun."

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