NFL.com’s Vic Carucci comes to the defense of the NFL today in light of their decision to limit the enjoyment we can all have by watching football. Here’s a little of what he says… and my reply isn’t to Carucci so much as it is to the NFL.
Players can still spike the ball in the end zone, spin it on the ground, and dunk it over the goal post if they like (and are able to). They also can dance and even leap into the stands.
Oh, good… they can do things that we’ve all seen 7,000 times. I really can’t get enough of that spike. That one sends shivers down my spine. Thank God they have left that bastion of the game alone. That’s every bit as exciting as Brett Favre licking his fingers.
As they watched videotape of games played during the 2005 season, members of the committee concluded that celebrations simply were getting out of hand. The biggest problem was that they were taking too long and slowing down the game unnecessarily.
I’m not buying that. If the NFL wants to stop slowing the game down, they can stop with the 4-minute breaks to watch instant replays. They could pay attention to that little clock that’s supposed to tell them when they’ve seen enough. I can’t recall a Chad Johnson celebration lasting longer than 20 or 30 seconds. We’ve got sequences of field goal–commercial–kickoff–commercial, and Steve Smith doing a five-second snow angel is what’s slowing the game down? No. That explanation just doesn’t wash.
I believe that this is being done for the same reasons that the NBA implemented their dress code… the players have to be acceptable to corporate sponsors. We can’t have these silly negroes doing all their crazy dances and acting all showboaty. That’s not what life is like in the corporate world, and those are the people we have to make happy. Our socks will all be the same height and color, our towels will be measured and clean, and we will behave in a civilized manner.
Mr. Bojangles
I agree with you wholeheartedly, til this:
“We can’t have these silly negroes doing all their crazy dances and acting all showboaty.”
.. for the guy who redesigned his entire fucking site to deal with obvious, race-baiting trolling, this baseless leap in logic boggles the mind. Has anything at all been said or implied to make this a race issue, beyond the fact that the two or three athletes who do this regularly are black? You are comparing the NBA dress code, which specifically bans articles of wardrobe worn by blacks and considered by many to cultural diversity, to guys scripting stupid events when their team gets TDs. Is this some sort of african-american tradition established over the past 3-4 years by Chad Johnson and T.O.? Can white receivers still do the hokey pokey?
Way off base. If you want to roast the NFL for racist policies, start with the coaching staff, not this bullshit.
March 29, 2006 at 9:45 am
Tony
The dances are the ultimate and most grotesque form of self-promotion. The league is already full of idiots who dramatically signal first downs.
When was the last time a selfish bastard like Chad Johnson ran to his quarterback or the O-Lineman to thank them for the pass or the protection? He doesn’t because he’s not a team player, he’s a me player.
Chad Johnson, after all, is the same guy who blew up at the team during half-time of last year’s playoffs because he only had one catch. Nice teammate. The last thing you need as a team/and backup quarterback in a big playoff game is a selfish tirade about who else? Me, Me, Me. He cares more about his phony celebrations than winning games.
In my estimation, all of these antics diminish the game considerably. The NFL move may be about corporate sponsors but I challenge anyone to find a head coach who isn’t secretly celebrating an end to this kind of behavior.
March 29, 2006 at 9:48 am
Pacifist Viking
I just wish the league would be honest about it–say it’s about sponsorship, or say it’s about fostering team play. Is anybody in the NFL even considering shortening commercial breaks, or having less commercial breaks, to prevent unnecessary game delays? Of course not.
It’s a blatant lie to suggest speed of the game has anything to do with it. After a team scores a TD, there is always a brief delay as teams set up to go for the extra point. It’s not like all the special-teamers stand on the sideline and wait while a player celebrates. The ref is getting the ball placed and players are going to their positions.
Sports leagues and politicians seem to be following the same path; more and more, “spin” is code for “lie.”
March 29, 2006 at 12:48 pm
the mighty mjd
Mr. B. – I don’t know how you can agree with the rest of the post, and just not that one line… because they have a lot to do with each other. My point is this: I think the new policy is about pandering to the corporate sponsors, who are old and white… And no, it’s not like endzone celebrations are a longstanding African-American tradition, but they are representative of today’s athlete, more brash and cocky… and there is a racial element to that. Larry Csonka never performed CPR on the football. Lance Alworth never changed a football’s diaper… It’s a generational thing, and I believe that yes, it’s a racial thing, too. It’s a resentment of the old white people in the luxury boxes towards the young black men who’s attitudes they think are bad for the sport. That’s all I’m saying.
March 29, 2006 at 3:05 pm
UC
“We can’t have these silly negroes doing all their crazy dances and acting all showboaty.”
Ridiculous.
Aren’t you the same cat who was crying about how Indiana wanted to get rid of Mike Davis so it could hire a white guy?
I guess the hiring of Sampson must blow your mind, eh?
I guess it’s always easy to simply point fingers and whine.
I agree that the NFL is being tight-assed, but why make it about race again…and again…and again…and again…?
March 29, 2006 at 3:05 pm
the mighty mjd
I acknowledged my mistake with the Mike Davis comment the day after I posted it.
About the again, and again, and again, and again… I just believe that racial and cultural bias is a factor in a lot of things in America. I guess that makes me crazy.
March 29, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Mr. Bojangles
If all I were seeing were white athletes in the hundreds of commercials, ads, and other propaganda the NFL throws out there every year, I’d reconsider my take on it. But I don’t see that anywhere – the corporate sponsors love these guys. I see athletes of both colors doing just fine – and then I see shit like Clinton Portis role-playing for the media during his press conferences, and the NFL saying, “No no no!”.
They’re not holding him back because he’s a black man, they’re holding him back because they want the NFL to be about sportsmanship and the game, not about the players being selfish douchebags who think they’re above their teams.
If anything, you’re contradicting yourself – the people, the ad companies, the media – they love the weirdness and celebrations, and make stars out of the unique players. The NFL is appealing for the very opposite: they want to stifle the players and focus on teams, parity, and the game. Mistake – I think so. Racist? Not in the slightest.
March 29, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Mr. Bojangles
*To clarify, I don’t think Clinton Portis is a selfish douchebag because of his crazy press conferences. Dude is just plain weird.
March 29, 2006 at 5:56 pm
the mighty mjd
It’s not racist in the sense of, “Hey, I really don’t like black people,” but more like, “Hey, this culture is different from mine, I’m not familiar with it, I’m not comfortable with it, I don’t like it, and mine is better.” The first type isn’t what bugs me so much… because people like that, you can easily identify and discount. But the second type is harder to spot and more prevalant, and I think that’s what we’re dealing with here. What Chad Johnson and Steve Smith do is representative of a certain culture… and the NFL is saying that culture isn’t welcome.
Also, when I talk about pandering to the corporate sponsors… I’m not talking about what athletes get endorsement deals. That’s got nothing to do with the league itself. In that sense, the guys are really independent contractors. But since you brought it up, when I think about NFL players who get the big endorsement dollars, I think Manning, McNabb, and Bettis… after that, it’s retired guys like Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason… guys who don’t celebrate, guys who fall in line, guys who are willing to conform to a corporate image. Guys like Chad Johnson have Terrell Owens have smaller deals with smaller companies like Boost Mobile or Fathead, but that’s about it. But again, this isn’t at all what I’m talking about.
But say some big soft drink company goes to Tags and says, “We’d like to be the official soft drink of the NFL,” the company wants the NFL to portray a certain image… of clean-cut, well-behaved, respectful guys who your grandmother would approve of. The NFL wants to keep those people happy… and I think that’s what’s driving the changes here.
Basically, what we have is a group of old white men who are making rules governing the behavior of young black men… and I don’t think it’s ridiculous to ask if it’s possible that some racism and cultural bias is involved in that.
March 29, 2006 at 8:45 pm
adam
If you really are having trouble believing the subtle racism charges, pay attention the next time you’re watching an NFL game. Whenever you hear “hard working”, “Student of the game”, “Scrappy”, or “like having a second coach on the field” see if the announcers are talking about a white guy. I’ll bet they are. Likewise check when they say “athletic”, “talented”, or “physically gifted”. 95% of the time its about a brown person.
People in sports harbor racial bias. Hell, most of the country harbors racial bias. It’s not all severe and overt, but that doesn’t make it fake. During the NCAA tournament Jim Nantz listed three people who Adam Morrison reminded him of: Larry Bird, Pete Maravich, and Rick Barrey. Do you really think that’s just a coincidence?
March 30, 2006 at 12:57 am
T
“hard working”, “student of the game”… these types of terms are reserved for players lacking athletic ability relative to their peers. If they weren’t “hard working” or “Scrappy”, they couldn’t make the team. By necessity, their “cerebral” game and “effort” are evolved to a noticeable level.
Conversely, “athletic” and “talented” are reserved for players who are “athletic” and “talented” but not necessarily “hard working” or “students of the game”.
Their athleticism is so great, it negates their need to “fully” develop other aspects of their game.
Players with the best of both worlds of these are usually referred to as the “best”. (ej. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.)
None of this is racism. It’s about survival in a sport. The less physically gifted, the more the “cerebral” game and “effort” must evolve and vice-versa.
Lastly, I don’t think every aspect of a culture should be welcome. There are a lot of negative aspects to all cultures, some more than others. In fact, often a culture’s “culture” is a reflection of and responsible for that culture’s “problems”.
March 30, 2006 at 10:19 am
adam
I mostly agree with your analysis of what it takes to be a good player or make a team or be the best. However, unless you’re saying that substantially all white players are less talented than substantially all non-white players, it doesn’t really explain the relative exclusivity of the labels vis-a-vis race.
March 30, 2006 at 11:37 am
T
There are truths behind all labels. They come from somewhere and often from observed truths.
Still, I see what you are saying. The problem arises when the labels are exclusively used and exceptions to the rule are not properly noted.
Outside of star players, I can’t think of too many exceptions in basketball. Can you? I think Eric Snow at one time, was not super talented but definitely a “hustler” and “cerebral” player yet not noted for this part of his game.
I can’t think of any super talented and athletic white players right now?
March 30, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Fish
I have no deep philosophical comments on racism in our country or the NFL or sports in general.
I just wanted to know if anyone else is a little confused by the picture. Looks like Juwanna Mann is doing snow angels. Just a wierd picture.
March 30, 2006 at 3:25 pm