Are the NFL's Celebration Rules Racist?

Touchdown celebrations go back for decades. Frank Gifford and Paul Hornung threw balls into the stands when they scored. In 1965, Homer Jones gave us the spike. In 1974, the Houston Oilers drafted Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. He was 5'9" from D-III Widner University, and when he scored, he liked to dance. After returning a punt for a touchdown, he did an odd version of the "funky chicken" to the delight of fans.

Dancing wasn't done at that time in the NFL. "White Shoes" thought he was going to get a tongue lashing when he want to the sideline, but head coach Bum Phillips was OK with it. "You keep scoring and you can dance all you want," Phillips reportedly said when Billy returned to the sideline.

Players started coming up with more entertaining ways to celebrate a score. In 1982, the "Fun Bunch" of the Washington Redskins would get together in a circle and high-five each other.

Mark Gastineau made the "Sack Dance" famous.

Orwell Was Right

Growing weary of expressed happiness, the NFL instituted a rule in 1984 prohibiting "any prolonged, excessive, or premeditated celebration by individual players or a group of players."

When an organization tries to regulate something like exuberance, they have to make vague rules like this one. They need the ability to punish any activity they see fit, as they are acting as judge and jury for "sportsmanlike behavior."

Every celebration could be considered prolonged and excessive. The great thing about people is we have a tendency to simply ignore bad rules. The 1984 rule was largely ignored by players; it's a good thing, too, or we might have never gotten to see the "Icky Shuffle."

LeRoy Butler, in 1993, gave us the "Lambeau Leap," now one of the greatest traditions in football. If he had followed the rules that were on the books, it would have never existed. How sad would that be?

From the "Mile High Salute" to the "Dirty Bird," we all have fun with celebrations, so why in the world does the NFL hate them so much?

Bad Boys III

Terrell Owens is one reason. Terrell Owens' antics are now legendary. To list them would be redundant.

Chad Ocho Cinco is public enemy No. 2 in the NFL's eyes. The league office couldn't even see the humor in a sign that said "Please don't fine me again!"

What about the uproar that Randy Moss' mock moon caused? You would have thought he whipped out his you-know-what and waved it at the cheerleading squad for all the fuss people were making.

Do these guys have anything in common? Can we confront the pink elephant in the room and talk about racism for a minute?

Post-World War II NFL owners didn't see it fit to hire a black head coach until Art Shell was signed to coach the Oakland Raiders by Al Davis in 1989.

For a long time, it was thought that African Americans didn't have the mental capacity to handle the complexities of the quarterback position. Despite all scientific evidence to the contrary, African Americans were steered away from this position until the late 1980s. Some would argue this practice continues today.

Is it possible that the owners are imposing their cultural ideals on the league? Their history suggests a less-than-open-minded view.

Phone A Friend

In 2003, Joe Horn made an imaginary phone call from the end zone and the owners decided to act...again. A 2004 rule change stated that in addition to fines, "flamboyant" celebrations would incur automatic 15-yard penalties. The "Lambeau Leap" was specifically excepted from this rule. "The Leap" that was in direct conflict with the 1984 rule was specifically allowed 20 years later. How times change.

Why is the NFL penalizing the people who will create the traditions of the future? If not cultural bias, what forces were at work in coming to this decision?

The specific use of the word flamboyant stinks of xenophobia. Homophobes use this word to describe behavior that makes them feel uncomfortable. Their discomfort comes entirely from their closed-minded position on the rights of others. Why not disallow the discomfort rather than the behavior that caused it?

Flamboyance cannot be objectively measured. What one person thinks is over the line, another will find amusing. Why must we all be held to the standards of the most up- tight people around us? Why should we coddle these fear-based emotions?

Flamboyance is in the eye of the beholder. The NFL chose to implement a rule that every referee will interpret differently and decrease the fairness of the outcomes of the games. Ironically, they did this in the name of sportsmanship.

Im"Prop"er Behavior

In 2006, because the NFL was still not happy with the antics of some of its players, the celebration rule was changed again. Fortunately for us, players have kept on ignoring it.

"Individual players are prohibited from using foreign objects or the football while celebrating. They are also prohibited from engaging in any celebrations while on the ground. A celebration shall be deemed excessive or prolonged if a player continues to celebrate after a warning from an official." Previously, players were not prohibited from using props or celebrating on the ground.

At least in this rule a prolonged celebration is defined. Prohibiting players from celebrating while on the ground seems silly...Must they jump in the air and display their glee only during their hang time?

Or was this clause put in specifically to target Terrell Owens for his celebration during which he pretended to sleep? T.O broke both parts of the new rule, as he used the ball as a pillow. Is this celebration really more offensive than the "Lambeau Leap?"

Unsportsmanlike Conduct?

The rules to limit celebration are arbitrary at best and, at worst, racist and xenophobic. It's not surprising in the least that players and owners are at odds over this issue. The players and the owners have had very different life experiences. This isn't going to be the only issue on which the differ culturally.

The NFL is in the entertainment business, yet they penalize their showmen. The league hides behind the notion of sportsmanship, as if they have divine inspiration about what a perfect athlete looks like and how he behaves.

African Americans clearly have a different view of "flamboyant" behavior than Anglo-Americans. One group of people wrote laws to outlaw dancing, for the other, dance is deeply rooted in culture that pre-dates our arrival on this continent.

To assume that the Anglo definition is any more valid than the African is racist on its face. The fact that the whites own the teams does not give them the right to impose their culture on the blacks who work in their fields.

Shades of Gray

In 1933, the NFL prohibited African Americans from playing in the league, but today 70 percent of NFL players are black. Before 1984, no celebration rules existed in the game; as the number of African Americans increased, so has the regulation on celebrations.

With all the evidence that is in place, we must consider the possibility that these rules are nothing more than watered down Jim Crow regulations, designed to keep African-American athletes in their place.