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NFL rules against TD celebrations irk Ickey Woods
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
Ickey Woods was just goofing around the night his famous touchdown dance took on a life of its own.
The Cincinnati Bengals running back had no idea that the "Ickey Shuffle" would become a national sensation, or that long after his playing career ended he would be interrupted in public and asked to dance.
"No way,'' Woods said Wednesday.
This fall the NFL plans to crack down on touchdown celebrations like the one Woods became famous for in 1988. Today's NFL probably would find his dance — which featured three hops to the left, three hops to the right, some swiveling of the hips and a spiking of the football — a bit tame and perhaps even permissible.
Now the league is looking to curb certain types of celebrations in the name of sportsmanship, and Woods said that's a shame.
"Let the guys have fun, man, that is what it is all about,'' said Woods, who is scheduled to take part in the Backfield in Motion Celebrity Weekend in Nashville beginning today. "When you are a kid playing in little league it is all about having fun, and now they are trying to take the fun out of it."
As co-chairman of the NFL's Competition Committee, Titans Coach Jeff Fisher was among those who endorsed the crackdown. Owners voted 29-3 in favor of the proposal.
Spiking the ball or dunking it over the goalpost will be allowed, but players cannot go to the ground or use props. The football itself is considered a prop. So are the goalposts, pylons and cheerleaders.
Players will be warned if their celebrations are taking too long. If the warning is ignored, it's a 15-yard penalty. Players also will be subject to fines.
Woods, 40, isn't sure if his dance would be allowed these days. When he broke it out during his rookie season, it was in the end zone. After getting flagged for delay of game, he moved his shuffles to the sideline.
"I had some fines come my way, but the owner said his wife liked it,'' Woods said. "Since she enjoyed seeing it, he said whenever I score I could do it, don't worry about the fine.''
Woods said he was just trying to get Bengals fans involved and that's why he only did the shuffle at home games.
As for today's celebrants, Woods said he is OK with Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who last year used an end zone pylon for a putter and staged a mock proposal to a cheerleader.
Woods also likes Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, who did snow angels and slid down goalposts like a fireman. (The fireman routine, also performed by Titans Courtney Roby and Pacman Jones last season, now will lead to penalties).
Woods doesn't care for the antics of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens, whose celebrations have included pulling a Sharpie out of his sock to sign a football and shaking a pair of pom-poms he snatched from a cheerleader. Woods didn't like the cell-phone antics of New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Horn, either.
"All that was a me-me, self-promotion kind of thing," Woods said. "Whenever they can do it and involve the fans and get the fans into it, that is great as far as I am concerned. But when you cross the line, and when you're doing it to promote yourself and bring attention to yourself, I don't like that. I think you can tell when a guy is trying to get the fans in it, or if it's me-me.''
These days Woods is a grandfather who coaches two football teams, one for children and the other for women.
His wife, Chandra, is an offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Sizzle of the National Women's Football Association. His two boys play little league football. He also runs the Ickey Woods Youth Foundation.
One day he hopes his sons will play in the NFL, where Woods became a hero of sorts for the Bengals.
In 1988 he rushed for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns while leading the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII and made the cover of Sports Illustrated.
He managed just 519 yards combined the next three injury-filled seasons and retired after playing in just 37 NFL games.
But he left his place in football — and dance — history.
"I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time,'' Woods said. "I was fortunate enough to be on a team where
I was able to score so many times that year, plus we went to a Super Bowl.
"I tell everybody if I was on a team and we weren't winning and we didn't make it to a Super Bowl, the Ickey Shuffle probably would have never caught on.''
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/SPORTS01/607060396/1027
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
Ickey Woods was just goofing around the night his famous touchdown dance took on a life of its own.
The Cincinnati Bengals running back had no idea that the "Ickey Shuffle" would become a national sensation, or that long after his playing career ended he would be interrupted in public and asked to dance.
"No way,'' Woods said Wednesday.
This fall the NFL plans to crack down on touchdown celebrations like the one Woods became famous for in 1988. Today's NFL probably would find his dance — which featured three hops to the left, three hops to the right, some swiveling of the hips and a spiking of the football — a bit tame and perhaps even permissible.
Now the league is looking to curb certain types of celebrations in the name of sportsmanship, and Woods said that's a shame.
"Let the guys have fun, man, that is what it is all about,'' said Woods, who is scheduled to take part in the Backfield in Motion Celebrity Weekend in Nashville beginning today. "When you are a kid playing in little league it is all about having fun, and now they are trying to take the fun out of it."
As co-chairman of the NFL's Competition Committee, Titans Coach Jeff Fisher was among those who endorsed the crackdown. Owners voted 29-3 in favor of the proposal.
Spiking the ball or dunking it over the goalpost will be allowed, but players cannot go to the ground or use props. The football itself is considered a prop. So are the goalposts, pylons and cheerleaders.
Players will be warned if their celebrations are taking too long. If the warning is ignored, it's a 15-yard penalty. Players also will be subject to fines.
Woods, 40, isn't sure if his dance would be allowed these days. When he broke it out during his rookie season, it was in the end zone. After getting flagged for delay of game, he moved his shuffles to the sideline.
"I had some fines come my way, but the owner said his wife liked it,'' Woods said. "Since she enjoyed seeing it, he said whenever I score I could do it, don't worry about the fine.''
Woods said he was just trying to get Bengals fans involved and that's why he only did the shuffle at home games.
As for today's celebrants, Woods said he is OK with Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who last year used an end zone pylon for a putter and staged a mock proposal to a cheerleader.
Woods also likes Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, who did snow angels and slid down goalposts like a fireman. (The fireman routine, also performed by Titans Courtney Roby and Pacman Jones last season, now will lead to penalties).
Woods doesn't care for the antics of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens, whose celebrations have included pulling a Sharpie out of his sock to sign a football and shaking a pair of pom-poms he snatched from a cheerleader. Woods didn't like the cell-phone antics of New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Horn, either.
"All that was a me-me, self-promotion kind of thing," Woods said. "Whenever they can do it and involve the fans and get the fans into it, that is great as far as I am concerned. But when you cross the line, and when you're doing it to promote yourself and bring attention to yourself, I don't like that. I think you can tell when a guy is trying to get the fans in it, or if it's me-me.''
These days Woods is a grandfather who coaches two football teams, one for children and the other for women.
His wife, Chandra, is an offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Sizzle of the National Women's Football Association. His two boys play little league football. He also runs the Ickey Woods Youth Foundation.
One day he hopes his sons will play in the NFL, where Woods became a hero of sorts for the Bengals.
In 1988 he rushed for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns while leading the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII and made the cover of Sports Illustrated.
He managed just 519 yards combined the next three injury-filled seasons and retired after playing in just 37 NFL games.
But he left his place in football — and dance — history.
"I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time,'' Woods said. "I was fortunate enough to be on a team where
I was able to score so many times that year, plus we went to a Super Bowl.
"I tell everybody if I was on a team and we weren't winning and we didn't make it to a Super Bowl, the Ickey Shuffle probably would have never caught on.''
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/SPORTS01/607060396/1027
