Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Why is taking off your helmet after scoring a touchdown (as happened to Odell Beckham today)
given the same 15 yard penalty as unnecessary roughness?

I know what you mean. Today the Redskins got penalized 15 yards because after a touchdown Vernon Davis flipped the ball up in the air like he was shooting a jump shot. But if he spiked it, that would've been fine. And a couple of weeks Josh Norman got hit with a penalty for "taunting" when he intercepted a pass, then got up mimed shooting an arrow toward the other goal line. How is that different from, say, the way DeSean Jackson jumps up and indicates a first down after he makes a catch? Not that I think a move like Jackson's merits a penalty either.

All these picky little rules do not make the NFL look good, any more than all the redefinitions of what constitutes a "catch."

John Grasso wrote:Why is taking off your helmet after scoring a touchdown (as happened to Odell Beckham today)
given the same 15 yard penalty as unnecessary roughness?

I like the penalty because I am tired of all this look-at-me crap in the league.

I think it's known as the "Emmitt Smith rule".And why can't you challenge not called pass interference,like the OBVIOUS play of Richard Sherman against Julio Jones late in the game.If it had been against a Seahawk reciever,they most likely would have called it.

falconfan58 wrote:I think it's known as the "Emmitt Smith rule".And why can't you challenge not called pass interference,like the OBVIOUS play of Richard Sherman against Julio Jones late in the game.If it had been against a Seahawk reciever,they most likely would have called it.

Believe me, you don't want to go there. The CFL has Coach's Challenge rules in place for penalties that are both called and not called. It's a nightmare.

Replay reviews have already damaged the viewing of football, hockey, baseball and basketball games enough without increasing the number of instances that they can be applied.

JWL wrote:

John Grasso wrote:Why is taking off your helmet after scoring a touchdown (as happened to Odell Beckham today)
given the same 15 yard penalty as unnecessary roughness?

I like the penalty because I am tired of all this look-at-me crap in the league.

But it's not just the players - look at the fans - wearing costumes and face paint that say look at me.

And the fact that you even have a problem with what the fans wear is just silly.

It's rampant at the college level, too. At the Notre Dame-NC State game a couple of weeks ago, a Notre Dame player committed a false start. An NC State player was flagged for taunting merely for pointing at the other side to indicate that they jumped.

The medium is the message.

Its a tv culture...

JWL wrote:

John Grasso wrote:Why is taking off your helmet after scoring a touchdown (as happened to Odell Beckham today)
given the same 15 yard penalty as unnecessary roughness?

I like the penalty because I am tired of all this look-at-me crap in the league.

With all due respect, an emphasis on showmanship and self-promotion in the NFL is hardly a new trend. If you're not used to it by now, you never will be.

If threads like this are any indication, some hate it when the league cracks down on this kind of thing, and an equal number hate it when it doesn't.