Wildlife and end zone celebrations
December 21st, 2005Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, known for his outrageous end zone celebrations, has suggested he may somehow use a deer in a celebration if he scores a touchdown on Christmas Eve.
“On the highway, I hit a deer,” Johnson said Tuesday, insisting he was serious and that the animal wasn’t hurt. “I kept him. He’s at home in the garage. I’m going to use him for the celebration this weekend. He’s a prop. They might suspend me for the last game, but I think this one is worth it.”
Oh, for more athletes like Barry Sanders, who simply flipped the ball to the referee when he scored a touchdown. He acted like he had been there before, and like he was going to be back. Johnson must not have the same confidence.
Scoring a touchdown in football is hard. It is your goal. And when you get there you should act like you have achieved something.
I am all for celebrations. I think they are fun. After all, this is a game we are playing. There are people on the sidelines dancing with skimpy outfits on. Why not enjoy a few moments of immaturity when you somehow avoid being slammed to the ground by a bunch of other grown men wearing different colored costumes and step into the painted grass that is the end zone.
And don’t tell me deep down…in the parts of you that you don’t want to admit exist…you want him to scare the touchdown so you can see. And you’ll laugh to yourself when watching it. You know you will!
That being said. A deer? As a prop? PETA isn’t going to like this!
I disagree, Steven. It’s called sportsmanship — and acting like a complete fool while celebrating is essentially rubbing the other team’s face in it. It’s one thing to slap hands with some teammates. I’ve got no problem with that. But stuff like this from Johnson is immature, and such showboating has no place in sports.
“such showboating has no place in sports”….
Come on, Tim, I can’t think of one professional sport that has no showboats…
Showboats are merely a form of entertainment… besides, thats all we see in professional sports is entertainment…. Sportsmanship stops at the collegiate level, thats where playing from the heart (and not the wallet) ends….
I’m not saying there are no showboats in sports. Of course there are. I’m saying there shouldn’t be any showboats in sports.
I think even at the collegiate level sportsmanship is hard to find. And why is that? Because college players imitate the pro players who want the spotlight. And it goes right down the line. If pro players would act more like professionals and like men, they’d be a much better example for athletes at all levels of competition.
Well, I have a hard time seeing what’s wrong with most celebrations in sports. Some I do have a problem with. For example, when Barry Bonds sits at the plate and watches another ball fly over the wall for five minutes, that makes me mad.
But, when someone does a little happy dance after a touchdown, I don’t have a problem with that. I guess it just depends on how extreme it is taken.
Tim, I can see where you are coming from. Afterall, my dad has been a highschool sports official for the past 32 years…. He can’t stand ANY form of unsportmanship…. However, I cannot personaly recall any college athletes performing a river dance or autographing a football after scoring a touchdown. I just think that with professional sports, it is all part of the over-paid entertainment…
Scott, I agree with your last statement…. It depends on how extreme it is…
There is a line between showboating and taunting…
Would you include the champagne party at winner’s circle in NASCAR exhibitions showboating? Since NASCAR is not a sport, does it also fall under the no showboating rule? j/k
I get what you’re saying, but I don’t know, man. For some reason Chad Johnson makes me laugh. It seems that he really is just having fun. Maybe I’m predisposed to like him because the Bengals are kind of our local team around here or something. But I think there’s a line between celebrating that is fun (like the Riverdance thing) and mocking or humiliating your opponent (like TO jumping on the star in Dallas or something).
What I don’t like is when a guy makes a tackle on special teams or defense and he goes into hystrionics even though his team is down by four touchdowns. Some guys can’t make a tackle or catch a ball without strutting their stuff.
I think you’re all missing the point. Chad Johnson said that we can “look forward to the celebration being part of something that has to do with Christmas.”
Won’t all of his Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Animist, Humanist, and Atheist fans be offended?
I know there is a fine line between enthusiastically celebrating and showboating/taunting … and I can’t quite define the line … but I know it when I see it.
Kinda like pornography.
: )
The thing with (almost) any sporting event is that (almost) everyone sees and reacts to (almost) everything that happens on the field a little differently. I tend to prefer the strong, silent type who makes a truly amazingly spectacular game-winning TD reception and then tosses the ball to the ref, as opposed to the “hot dog” who awkwardly bobbles a wide-open pass before making a two-handed catch to score a meaningless touchdown in a 45-7 game and then celebrates by doing two cartwheels, a hip-hop version of “The Funky Chicken,” shadowboxing with the goalpost and leaping into the (visitors’) cheering section.
But, hey, that’s just me.
: )
I’m with Steven, the more fun, the better. In fact, all scorers should do the Icky Shuffle. Make it so!
Like Alex mentioned above, I absolutely hate it when someone makes a tackle and then he starts pumping his fists, talking smack, and dancing around like he is just won the big game and is on his way to Disneyland. I saw it many times Sunday in the Rams game. What are they all pumped about?
I say we combine Tyler Sink’s favorite pastime of wasting copious amounts of ammunition by having snipers pick-off some of these morons when they start getting jiggy with it on the field. I’m just glad I’m perfect.
Tim, do you think that a baseball team celebrating a Division Title, trip to the Championship Sseries, League Championship, or World Championship showboating? That’s celebrating, in a usually very extreme way.
All I’m trying to point out, is where can you draw the line. Sure, I said it depends on how extreme, and I stand by that. I just don’t know exactly where to draw the line, or how to define it. What do you think?
No Scott, I don’t consider such celebrating to be showboating. For one thing, such celebrations on the field are usually pretty tame compared to what’s done in the clubhouse, out of the sight of the losing team.
Trying to define where you draw the line is impossible, as Di said. But common sense should prevail — if there’s any doubt about whether it’s appropriate, it’s probably not appropriate.
Fair enough.
Suddenly 16-0 and the Superbowl all seem irrelevant and unimportant.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5189196