Touchdown Celebration rules good or bad

Few NFL rules irritate me more than the excessive celebration rule, which penalizes the offending team 15 yards on its subsequent kickoff. Considering how NFL rules are already skewed to favor offenses, requiring a team to kick off from its own 15-yard line dramatically increases the chance of the opposing team scoring on its subsequent possession. Even if the kickoff return is well-defended, the offense needs only a couple of first downs to get into field goal range.

If the league views the act as highly offensive, large fines and even suspensions can be issued. The main change: Stay on your feet. No more push-ups, sit-ups, boat-rowing, snow angels or worm crawls. Not that the rulemakers want the NFL to be labeled the No Fun League ? ?

"The ball can't be a baby, bottle of beer, telephone, gear shift, or oar,"the pylons cannot be used as a prop either  said league supervisor of officials . .

An exception is made for players doing a Lambeau Leap

Players are still  able to spike, spin or dunk the ball over the goal post. Chad Johnson can even run to the sideline and propose to a Ben-Gal cheerleader, so long as he doesn't get down on one knee. Neither can he use a football as an engagement ring. players can still dance unless it goes on too long. Then, officials will warn them to stop. If they dont, it's a 15-yard penalty

Some  memorable celebrations

• The "touchdown spike": New York Giants wide receiver Homer Jones is credited as the first player to throw the ball into the field at his feet after scoring a touchdown. He first did this move in 1965, calling it a "spike", and it is said to be the origin of post-touchdown celebrations

• The 1980s Washington Redskins "The Fun Bunch": For years, players like Billy "White Shoes" Johnson demonstrated in the end zone after scoring a touchdown. The 1984 Washington Redskins raised the bar on celebrations by performing a group high-five after scoring. The NFL had made previous attempts to curb celebrations but, after the 1984 Fun Bunch, they changed the rules and "excessive celebration" was disallowed. This is one of the few offensive squads that have managed to acquire a nickname

• In his rookie season of 1988, Bengals running back Ickey Woods gained media attention with a touchdown dance that became known as the "Ickey Shuffle." He had plenty of opportunities to do this, as he set a rookie record with 15 touchdowns in the regular season and added 3 more in the playoffs en route to Super Bowl XXIII.

• Arguably the most famous NCAA celebration was Desmond Howard's end-zone move after returning a punt for a touchdown against Ohio State in 1991. In his since-copied celebration, Howard mimicked the pose of the figure on the Heisman Trophy. Howard won that same honor later that year.

• Since 1993, Green Bay Packers players have done the "Lambeau Leap", in which Packer players jump into the bleachers (and into the arms of Packer fans) at Lambeau Field after a score. Cornerback LeRoy Butler started the tradition after returning a fumble for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Raiders on December 26, 1993.

• During the 1998 NFC championship season Jamal Anderson and other members of the Atlanta Falcons did the Dirty Bird dance after touchdowns. This dance consisted of gyrating like a chicken.

• During their 2000 playoff run, the St. Louis Rams offense would circle up in the end zone and crouch down and weave from side to side after touchdowns in a performance eventually dubbed "The Bob and Weave". However, after the dance became a more regular occurrence, the NFL declared it (and all celebrations involving multiple players) illegal and began to hand out fines for them.

• Receiver Randy Moss, then with the Minnesota Vikings, was fined $10,000 after a short touchdown dance that ended with him pretending to pull down his pants and moon the Green Bay crowd in a 2004 playoff game. Moss claimed he did it because the Green Bay crowd often moons the bus of the opposing team when it pulls into Lambeau Field.

• New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Horn performed a highly publicized touchdown dance after he scored a touchdown against the New York Giants in the 2003 season. Horn spiked the ball after scoring the touchdown and then went to the upright, where he pulled a hidden cell phone out of its padding, and then used it to call his children. He was fined $30,000 by the NFL.

• In 2000, San Francisco 49ers running back Terrell Owens ran out to the midfield and spiked the ball on the Dallas Cowboys' star after a touchdown. An opposing player celebrating on the Star is considered an extreme faux pas, and the Cowboys fans loudly booed him. Owens repeated the taunt after a second touchdown, but was chased down and tackled by Cowboys free safety George Teague[7]. Owens was suspended for one game by head coach Steve Mariucci for his actions; Teague was ejected from the game. In 2006, Owens - now a Dallas Cowboy - did the same midfield sprint to the Star after his first Cowboys touchdown, which was met by cheers by the fans.

• During the 2002 season, Owens had two memorable touchdown celebrations. After a score in a Monday Night Football contest against the Seattle Seahawks, Owens pulled a sharpie out of his sock and signed the game ball which he then gave to his financial adviser, who was sitting in a seat close to the end zone; Owens was fined $20,000 by the NFL for defacing the ball. After scoring a touchdown in a December contest with the Green Bay Packers, Owens celebrated with a pair of pom-poms borrowed from a 49ers cheerleader.

• In 2004, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles in a game against the Ravens, Owens mocked the dance of linebacker Ray Lewis. Also while playing for the Eagles T.O. would move his arms up and down like an eagle. In 2006, playing for the Cowboys, he was penalized for sleeping at the end zone after the touchdown against the Washington Redskins.

• Joey Galloway shows his biceps after most touchdowns that he scores.

• Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco had a number of original celebrations in the 2005 season. After a touchdown early in the year against the Chicago Bears, he performed his version of the "river dance". In one game against the Indianapolis Colts, he knelt down on one knee and pretended to propose to a Bengals cheerleader, who accepted the mock gesture. After he had been fined several weeks in a row for excessive celebrations, Ocho Cinco celebrated his next touchdown by holding up a sign that read "Dear NFL, Please don't fine me AGAIN!!!!!!" (and was subsequently fined $10,000 by the NFL). Other celebrations included performing CPR on the football, picking up a pylon in the end zone and using it to 'putt' the football into an imaginary golf hole then pumping his fist in a loose imitation of Tiger Woods (for which he was fined $5,000), doing an Irish jig, and even went so far as to do the Chicken Dance. Before one game, he wore a nameplate that said "Ocho Cinco", and was fined by the NFL (as his last name was still Johnson at the time).

• On Opening Day 2007, Ocho Cinco wore a jacket that read "Future HOF 20??". The next week, in Cleveland, he jumped into the Dawg Pound after a touchdown (and had beer poured on him by the fans in attendance). On November 25, 2007 against the Titans, he pushed a cameraman aside and pretended to film the players, which drew a 15-yard penalty for using a prop (in this case the TV camera) during touchdown celebrations.

• Like Ocho Cinco, Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers was known for his touchdown celebrations (Smith and Ocho Cinco were teammates in junior college). Some of his more memorable celebrations included treating the football like a baby on multiple occasions, going so far as to change the football's "diaper", wiping it down, and rocking it to sleep. He also posed like a supermodel in the end zone, made a "snow angel", and on one occasion against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, used the football as a sword and made swashbuckling motions, mocking the Bucs' mascot.

• Animals of all different sorts can lend their names to touchdown dances. New England Patriots wide receiver Kelley Washington is known for his distinctive touchdown celebration dubbed "The Squirrel" (which originated with his former team the Cincinnati Bengals). Former Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Johnnie Morton liked to celebrate with "The Worm." And during his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, defensive back Merton Hanks became famous for his unique "Funky Chicken" dance after scoring on interception returns.

• Sometimes touchdown celebrations borrow from other sports. Wide receiver Alvin Harper liked to slam dunk the football over the goalpost crossbar after scoring a touchdown. Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez has also adopted that as his trademark (probably because he played basketball in college). In 2006, the New York Giants defensive players celebrated by mimicking a turnaround jump shot as a reference to the Jim Jones song "We Fly High". Running back Harvey Williams often celebrated his touchdowns by pretending to swing a baseball bat and hit a home run.

• Rams (former Chiefs) KR Dante Hall, nicknamed "the X-Factor", makes an 'X' out of his forearms after a touchdown.

• Chiefs running back Larry Johnson makes a diamond sign "the Diamond Cutter" with his thumbs and pointer fingers, referencing his friend rapper Jay Z and his Roc-A-Fella diamond symbol(http://www.gigwise.com/artists/00015118_Jay-z.jpg). Ravens DE Terrell Suggs mocked this gesture in a December 2006 game.

• In the 2007 NFC Championship game New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush, after making a 85 yard touchdown, did a three yard front flip and "The Roosevelt" in the end zone. He later received a $5,000 fine for pointing at the Bears' Brian Urlacher while running towards the end zone.

• New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, in a game against the Chicago Bears in 2006, stuck the ball under his shirt to mimic being pregnant. He received a 15-yard penalty and a $10,000 fine from the NFL. He later claimed he did that it because his pregnant wife was in the stands.

• New York Jets running back LaMont Jordan, in a game against the Houston Texans in 2003, pretended the football was a chainsaw and after pulling an imaginary cord to start the chainsaw, pretended to cut down the goalpost at Houston's Reliant Stadium.

• New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker was fined $10,000 for making a snow angel after scoring a touchdown during a week 16 game against the Arizona Cardinals on December 21, 2008.

          made me think of this after the  $60,000 touchdown celebration

I think they are  taking away this fun and entertaining aspect of the game we so love.  The unfortunate truth is that the NFL is cracking down on them through fines and suspensions. against players.  Rules  put in place to rid these celebrations.  I among many feel that taking away these celebrations is taking away from the great American game

                                                           thoughts anyone 

 post and pictures info  courtesy  of   wikipedia touchdown celebration. nfltouchdown.com  nbc sports and other various articles via the internet pertaining to NFL touchdown celebration rules