The NFL’s crackdown on touchdown celebrations reached a fever pitch last season.
Through 14 weeks in 2016, the league fined players for excessive celebrations 18 times. That’s up from seven during the entire 2015 season. Flags flew with such frequency after touchdowns that it almost became a given that some players — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown for one — would draw a flag and a quite possibly a hefty fine every time they reached the end zone.
Change seemed inevitable this offseason, but unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be the kind of retooling fans had hoped for. The latest in the NFL’s bizarre stance on the issue is its plan to develop a training video aimed at educating players on how and how not to celebrate a touchdown.
NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent tweeted out the news Wednesday.
We're developing an educational training video for players to show clear examples of appropriate and inappropriate celebrations. pic.twitter.com/3yzBxAaQuk
— Troy Vincent, Sr. (@TroyVincentSr) March 21, 2017
Not great news for fans, the majority of which enjoy all the touchdown hoopla. But it could end up saving players like Brown, who was last year’s poster-child for excessive celebration fines, a good amount of loot.