ESPN Mosley: Mike Pereira explains T.O. penalty

[Everlastingxxx]

Come on, imagine if they actually flagged someone for kneeling and praying in the endzone. The backlash would be unreal. He is TO, the man of TD celebrations...they will flag him for anything close to breaking a rule. He should have been smarter than that.

 

[Rackat]

Next touchdown, TO needs to take a knee and give thanks. We'll see if the refs or Peirera is afraid of lightening.

 

[Hoofbite]

Next touchdown, TO needs to take a knee and give thanks. We'll see if the refs or Peirera is afraid of lightening.

I'd love to see that.

 

[khiladi]

yeah, the refs flat our stink--half of them don't even know the rules. Did he feel the need to chime in on the other strange calls this week, like the down but not really down play on Thursday night, or the ground can't cause a fumble, but can cause and incompletion play on Monday night? Not to mention the PI on TO?

That is what Pereira does... He comes in and explains plays where the refs got it right, while ignoring the billion plays where they got it wrong... It is all about perception...

 

[superpunk]

And the lord sayeth "Ye, and do not penalize football players who take to the earth to glorify me with their end zone celebrations, for it is wonderful, in my sight. In the name of the RZA, the GZA, and the ODB, amen."

 

[stealth]

I like how Pereira defends only using the rule on a guy for faking like a sprinter and not when they pray "I don't want to get struck by lightning."

That's ridiculously unprofessional.

lol, why cause you don't like the line?

what is he gonna do start preaching about god, how unprofessional would that be?

there wasn't a way to answer that question to satisfy anyone, so he politicianed it.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

lol, why cause you don't like the line?

what is he gonna do start preaching about god, how unprofessional would that be?

there wasn't a way to answer that question to satisfy anyone, so he politicianed it.

Wow, for a second there, I thought we might have had a Leotis sighting.

 

[dogberry]

Did the knee touch the ground?

 

[DallasEast]

Did the knee touch the ground?

Yes. See the replay under the the Unsportsmanlike Conduct header in the Upon Further Review. Week 1. thread.

Celebrations such as the Lambeau Leap will not be penalized. Are they spontaneous? Nope. Does it conform with what the league considers as a benign celebration? Yep.

Is that fair? Nope.

Will the league continue to penalized scripted celebrations such as Owens' Bolt/Olympics challenge? Yep.

The complaints will not end in the foreseeable future about certain players drawing fouls and others players not drawing fouls. Until the rules change, that's the way it's going to be.

Will complaints motivate the league to alter the rules? Perhaps, but it's more likely that a civil discussion between owners and the league or a coalition of the owners and players addressing the league would change the rules. Maybe a fan boycott would do the trick? I doubt fans would organize to hurt the sport we love so much over something so trivial. The rules are in place and the penalty will be enforced, so what should be expected?

A flag.

If an opponent doesn't score because they received great field position due to a unsportsmanlike conduct foul AND it doesn't affect the final outcome of the game, it's really all no harm no foul (pun intended). However, if the penalty helped an opponent score and that score influenced the outcome in their favor, it's kinda pathetic because this particular unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is completely voluntary AND is understood by all parties involved.

Any player getting hit by this particular penalty may not like it. The team may not like it. The fans may not like it. Etc., etc. Knowing all this, should anyone intentionally draw the penalty on purpose? That's my question.

 

[links18]

Yes. See the replay under the the Unsportsmanlike Conduct header in the Upon Further Review. Week 1. thread.

Celebrations such as the Lambeau Leap will not be penalized. Are they spontaneous? Nope. Does it conform with what the league considers as a benign celebration? Yep.

Is that fair? Nope.

Will the league continue to penalized scripted celebrations such as Owens' Bolt/Olympics challenge? Yep.

The complaints will not end in the foreseeable future about certain players drawing fouls and others players not drawing fouls. Until the rules change, that's the way it's going to be.

Will complaints motivate the league to alter the rules? Perhaps, but it's more likely that a civil discussion between owners and the league or a coalition of the owners and players addressing the league would change the rules. Maybe a fan boycott would do the trick? I doubt fans would organize to hurt the sport we love so much over something so trivial. The rules are in place and the penalty will be enforced, so what should be expected?

A flag.

If an opponent doesn't score because they received great field position due to a unsportsmanlike conduct foul AND it doesn't affect the final outcome of the game, it's really all no harm no foul (pun intended). However, if the penalty helped an opponent score and that score influenced the outcome in their favor, it's kinda pathetic because this particular unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is completely voluntary AND is understood by all parties involved.

Any player getting hit by this particular penalty may not like it. The team may not like it. The fans may not like it. Etc., etc. Knowing all this, should anyone intentionally draw the penalty on purpose? That's my question.

NO, TO should make himself aware of the rules and stop costing his team 15 yards. Even if the rules suck.

 

[DallasEast]

NO, TO should make himself aware of the rules and stop costing his team 15 yards. Even if the rules suck.

Here's the deal, though.

Owens does know about the unsportsmanlike conduct rule in regards to his touchdown celebrations.

I'll take that back. I'm not in Owens' head. My next question to anyone would be, "Can someone argue that he DOESN'T know or understand the rule?"

 

[Doomsday]

Pereira said the league was sensitive to the grumbling of fans who enjoy Owens’s type of showmanship, but noted that there was another segment of fans that most definitely does not. That group, which includes youth coaches and officials, often complains to the league office that over-the-top celebrations run counter to their messages about team play and sportsmanship.

Another case where the few that are louder then the majority so they get their way. Gets tiresome!

 

[heir]

NO, TO should make himself aware of the rules and stop costing his team 15 yards. Even if the rules suck.

Exactly I really for the life of me don't understand what everyone is so mad about. It is in the rules you can't go to the ground to celebrate and that's what he did putting his knee on the ground. Wade may say he didn't know the rule but when the rule came into place Parcells was the coach and you can be sure he made sure that T.O. and everyone else knew it too.
As for kneeling and praying. That would not and should not draw a flag because when soemone does that he is not bringing attention to himself. Not in the way that T.O. and others were trying to bring attention to themselves, anyway.
Now for the record do I think the rule is stupid? Yes it is dumb and the NFL should lighten up but the fact of the matter is we all knew about this rule so why all the bickering?

 

[links18]

Here's the deal, though.

Owens does know about the unsportsmanlike conduct rule in regards to his touchdown celebrations.

I'll take that back. I'm not in Owens' head. My next question to anyone would be, "Can someone argue that he DOESN'T know or understand the rule?"

He may not have realized putting his knee on the ground, absent a gesticulation to the heavens, would draw a flag.

 

[zeromaster]

Here's my two cents: the other two calls on TO happened because of the first one.

These guys are human; there's bound to be a couple that aren't happy that Owens has turned things around, and this is their only way to get their dig in. The wonderful thing is: it can't be proven, one way or t'other.

I'll take my tinfoil hat back now, thanks.


2nd quarter:
2-12-CLE 35 (9:55) 9-T.Romo pass deep left to 81-T.Owens for 35 yards, TOUCHDOWN. PENALTY on DAL-81-T.Owens, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, 15 yards, enforced between downs.
3-6-CLE 7 (1:11) 9-T.Romo pass short left to 81-T.Owens to CLE 1 for 6 yards (22-B.McDonald, 26-S.Jones).

3rd quarter:
2-5-DAL 25 (14:14) 9-T.Romo pass deep right to 81-T.Owens to CLE 44 for 31 yards (20-M.Adams) [92-S.Rogers]. PENALTY on DAL-81-T.Owens, Offensive Pass Interference, 10 yards, enforced at DAL 25 - No Play.

 

[links18]

Funny though, TO almost had 2 more TDs in that game. What would he have done had he scored on those? Would he have figured it out? Just how many scripted celebrations does he go into game day with anyway?

 

[stealth]

just out of curiosity has one of owens' celebration penalties ever really even mattered in the games?

seems like its a "so what" kinda thing, it doesn't really hurt us. Terrell gets to stroke his ego and act out, which I fully believe he needs. Let him get flagged every time he scores a touchdown for all I care.

 

[DallasEast]

Another case where the few that are louder then the majority so they get their way. Gets tiresome!

You're probably correct, so my question would be, "Is their concern valid?"

I something awhile back on either this forum or the old DMN boards. One of Owens most 'flamboyant' TD celebrations was the STAR incident. In the time since, does anyone recall any college, high school or younger player ever taking a celebrational bow in the center of a football field? Anywhere?

I haven't seen, heard or read about it happening since Owens did it. That's the concern for coaches and school officials who exist beneath the professional level, namely, players mimicing what they have seen pro players do on Sundays.

One can make an argument that such celebrations are for entertainment purposes only, but can anyone guarantee that an opponent's players or fans will not take offense to a player showboating in a similar fashion at a college or high school stadium?

It's a concern. It may be a tiny concern, but it may very well be a valid concern that some folks don't want to blow up in their faces because they don't want kids acting like Joe Horn or Chad Ocho Cinco or Terrell Owens or etc., etc. While the NFL may stand for the "No Fun League", it can also stand for a little responsibility to the millions of younger fans who look up to the pros as heroes and who want to be just like them in ways that could end up being interpreted as negative.

 

[DallasEast]

He may not have realized putting his knee on the ground, absent a gesticulation to the heavens, would draw a flag.

I would have to state that he did, in my opinion. He was copying the stance of a runner in the blocks shortly before a race. A runner is usually on a knee or both knees shortly before raising up when the official states, "On your mark! Get set! Go!"

 

[WoodysGirl]

He may not have realized putting his knee on the ground, absent a gesticulation to the heavens, would draw a flag.

I'm know that very few here knew that minor detail, although they're very vocal about it.

So far only two have posted that they they knew. Two of 18k+ members and only two.

SHOULD T.O. have known? Yes. But I doubt very few players know the particulars of EVERY rule in the rule book. Players don't study rule books as they do their playbooks.