They Sure Don't Make Them Rules Like They Used To...

So, a season on does anyone actually like the NFL's 'No Celebration' rule? Didn't think so.

I managed to get myself tossed from two games in my school career; Once for the comments I made to an umpire after he flagged me for a ridiculously late hit on the oppositions star player (I can't remember exactly what I said but it was almost certainly something about his mother), and once when I ran the entire length of the field to join in re-start a small scuffle that was over by the time I got there. Again, comments about mothers may have been made.

"Aggression," my coach would later say to me after hauling me into his office "is a good thing... but only when coupled with control"

Unfortunately, despite listening to that same damned speech several times, it never really sunk in, which I guess is why I never made it as a pro. That and a total lack of a little thing called talent.

But my point (and yes, there is one) is that there are far worse things that a player can do other then 'use the ball as a prop' or 'celebrate in a group' after a touchdown. A far better move for the NFL would have been to say that celebrations were fine unless they were directly aimed at the opposing fans. For example; T.O.'s Star celebration is pretty unsportsmanlike so it would be penalised, whereas the jump shot or my personal favorite, the grenade, would be well within the rules.

One of the reasons the NFL works so well is that the rules are regularly tweaked to hone their effectiveness. A little more flexibility to the celebration rules would bring back a lot more fun for everybody.