Excessive Celebration: The Death of Fun

There is nothing quite like a college football game. The smell of the grill, the noise of the crowd, and the overwhelming sensation when the team we watch wins a big game. It’s an adrenaline rush for the fans and for the players playing the game. Or at least it was…

We have witnessed, over the past ten years, a penalty that is ruining the fun of college football, and that is the excessive celebration penalty. That’s right, if you mock the crowd or jump for joy too much, you cost your team 15 penalty yards assessed on your next kickoff or on the extra point attempt. In theory, this could be a penalty to stop the inevitable Chad Johnson type circus show after a touchdown. However the NCAA has taken this penalty way too far: it’s inconsistent and it has cost some teams to lose a game due to a celebration after an emotional touchdown.

First and foremost, where do we draw the line with this type of penalty? Three players went to Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University and made the same gesture after their respective touchdown. Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida dialed his fake phone taunting the LSU crowd, no flag. Superstar running back, Knowshon Moreno of Georgia dialed his fake phone taunting the same crowd, no flag. So why is it that senior quarterback, John Parker Wilson of Alabama gets 15 yards of unsportsmanlike conduct for the exact same gesture as the last two players. There has to be a standard, and if referees assess the penalty one time, then they need to keep doing it.

Let’s not forget that this penalty has cost a few teams the game. In 2005 unranked Vanderbilt faced the thirteenth ranked Florida Gators. In an emotional game that saw a remarkable comeback in the fourth quarter by Vanderbilt to make the game 34-35 with 54 seconds remaining, Vanderbilt decided to go for the gutsy call as head coach Bobby Johnson held his fingers to say, let’s go for two and the win. However, put those fingers down, Vanderbilt was charged with excessive celebration. How does one celebrate excessively when you tie the thirteenth ranked team in the country? As a result, Vanderbilt kicked a field goal and eventually lost that game in overtime. It was a game that led people to ask, why didn’t Vanderbilt have that shot to go for two?

More recently, unranked, and still winless Washington scored a late touchdown against fifth teen ranked Brigham Young with two seconds left to put the Huskies within one. It was an emotional score at home to possibly upset a great BYU team. Hold your horses though, here comes that hankie falling to the field. Once again Washington was charged with excessive celebration. ESPN analysts couldn’t see it, the announcers couldn’t see it, and as a result BYU blocked the extra point that was knocked back 15 yards. Another excellent call by the officials to further ruin another game.

Though the highlight of the century, in my mind, with relation to this penalty had to have been last years, Florida vs. Georgia game. Florida had Georgia’s number for many years, and it was to be another tight game. It wasn’t until Georgia came close to the goal line that Knowshon Moreno stretched for the end zone and scored. Mark Richt told his team that they had better get an excessive celebration penalty. The result was the entire Georgia team rushing the field and dancing into the end zone. It sent the players and the fans into a frenzy and the Bulldogs beat the Gators in an emotional win. The action by Richt was criticized by the media (and Florida fans) and was seen as a sign of disrespect. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was a middle finger to the NCAA for penalizing teams for celebrating. The idea that we had better get a penalty made a team run through walls for coach Richt and it was a brilliant move.

Where does it end though? Do all teams have to run back to the sidelines like robots after an emotional touchdown? Can we raise our hands in the air? Can we high five? One game is enough damage; let’s stop the madness once and for all. Players aren’t sliding down the goalpost, giving the football CPR, or playing putt-putt with the pile-on. I believe it was Tom Landry that said, when you score a touchdown, act like you’ve been there before, and I agree. However, when we are penalizing teams for enjoying the game, it’s become an absurd suggestion. If we are going to penalize players, let’s penalize Les Miles for his overexcitement when LSU scores. Why not?

All in all, I am going to miss moments when players tackle their own defensive linemen after a touchdown when the “big man” rumbles for six.  Or when a player catches a Hail Mary pass at the end of the game and the entire bench erupts. Football is an exciting and expressive game; players and fans alike should be able to be allowed to go nuts about the game that they love. However, despite the criticisms by the media and fans to get rid of this penalty, the NCAA probably never will. We want to tell the officials to keep that yellow flag in their pocket and let the boys play, but they never will…

And thus, will be the death of fun in college football… and this was the eulogy. Rest in Peace.