By now you've seen it. A player makes an enormous catch or runs for a primary down or touchdown. He jumps up, extends one arm, extends his index finger and raises his thumb to create an imaginary weapon. Generally, the “shots” are fired within the direction of a particular person. But the unsportsmanlike conduct flags still got here up, meaning a 15-yard penalty.
The NFL is sending the message that finger guns are over after issuing eight penalties and fines to players for such celebrations in the primary 4 weeks of the season. Two more players were cited Sunday for handgun displays, which the NFL considers a violent gesture. The fines for week 5 can be announced on Saturday afternoon.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London earned a flag and a superb for the gesture in Week 2. In Week 3, New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers received two violent gesture penalties. This was followed by two fines totaling $14,069. Five players – Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb, New Orleans Saints defensive backs Marshon Lattimore and Alontae Taylor, New York Jets wideout Allen Lazard and Washington Commanders running back Jeremy McNichols – were penalized for the celebration in Week 4.
For these eight violations, players were fined a median of $12,697.50. Cincinnati Bengals wideout Andrei Iosivas was also cited and fined for unsportsmanlike conduct in Week 2 when he mimed shooting a bow and arrow after a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, he appealed the $5,305 superb and won.
Indianapolis Colts receiver Josh Downs received a penalty for pointing downfield in Week 5. in addition to Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton. Still, Lamb and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster weren’t penalized for celebrating first downs with similar gestures in last week's games, although that doesn't preclude possible fines.
Slayton noted the official discrepancy at X.
It's cool after they do it https://t.co/dOX1kb0Qap
— Darius Slayton (@Young_Slay2) October 8, 2024
The NFL's unsportsmanlike conduct rules are as follows:
London he said regretted his celebrationwho imitated shooting into the air with a machine gun. Three days earlier, the Falcons hosted the Apalachee High School football team in Georgia, where two students and two teachers were killed in a shooting on Sept. 4.
It may feel like a sudden crackdown, but NFL and team officials, in addition to players in NFLPA leadership positions, say the league's aversion to such acts is nothing latest. The NFL has long had a rule that forestalls players from making violent gestures on the sector. In addition to finger guns, this also includes throat cuts and gang signs. In 2022, the league fined 13 Pittsburgh Steelers players $4,715 to $13,261 for choreography machine gun-like interception celebration. In 2023, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and tight end David Njoku were each fined $13,569 Weapons themed celebration. These are only two examples from previous seasons.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association are jointly negotiating an on-field code of conduct for all players. fines, in keeping with the NFL rules“will be donated to the Professional Athletes Foundation to support legends in need and to the NFL Foundation to further support the health, safety and well-being of athletes at all levels, including youth football and the communities that support the sport .”
Two NFL directors of player development said the penalties and fines weren’t a brand new initiative or a spotlight of the league, which has cracked down on taunts in recent seasons. Instead, they said, players have just began using the finger fire celebration more regularly.
A senior league official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn’t wish to comment on any specific incident, said players are warned yearly that such gestures will lead to penalties and fines. Every yr, the league shows players a video educating them about acceptable and unacceptable types of celebration. The NFL rulebookwhich is given to each player yearly, also prohibits saluting with firearms.
A league official said that as such celebrations became more popular at highschool and college games, the NFL saw a trickle-down effect at its own games.
Among the violent gestures which have stood out in college football this season: Last week, South Carolina defensive back Dylan Stewart mimicked shooting Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart with a machine gun while the quarterback was still on the bottom and recovered from Stewart's sack. In Week 1, on LSU's first touchdown of the season, wide receiver Kyren Lacy pretended to shoot a gun at USC's defense.
“We're starting to see, I hate to say it, but more and more of it,” said Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of NCAA officials. said The Associated Press earlier this week. “We’re just trying to say this is not acceptable. Gun violence is unacceptable in our game.”
Several NFL employees not sleep so far on all points of the youth game, and the league is diligent in targeting its messages to a younger audience. Because of the celebrity status of its players, the NFL is careful to curb violent gestures in the sport and hopes that recent penalties and fines quickly force players to alter.
When asked concerning the matter, a second senior NFL official said: “Non-negotiable. Find another way to celebrate.”
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image credit : www.nytimes.com