“For those of you too busy keeping up with the Kardashians to notice, we live in a culture that in many ways grows more stupid and graceless by the moment,” Costas said. “Sports both reflects and influences that trend, so on playing fields everywhere, true style is in decline and while mindless exhibitionism abounds.”…. “There is a difference between spontaneous and/or good-natured displays of enthusiasm and calculated displays of obnoxious self-indulgence,” he said. “That train has already gone so far down the wrong track, there’s probably no turning back. So our suggestion here is a more modest one. Hey, knuckleheads, is it too much to ask that you confine your buffoonery to situations that don’t directly damage your team? Week after week, game after game, we see guys who think nothing of incurring penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, costing their team’s valuable yardage, even late in close games.”
Let me begin by saying I find it somewhat ironic that a representative of a television network whose survival depends on attracting attention to itself took it upon himself to criticize professional football players trying to attract attention to themselves. That ironic acknowledged, I’ll admit that I think Bob Costas was spot on with his criticism of the monuments to ego inflation and self-promotion that pass for touchdown dances in the NFL these days.
I get that the NFL is entertainment, and that in our media- and celebrity-soaked world, it’s become much tougher to sort the wheat from the chaff. When Kim Kardashian’s 72-day sham of a marriage can be turned into a reality show, not only have we jumped the shark, it would seem that we’ll killed and filleted it. The NFL is competing for entertainment dollars in the same way the Food Channel or any other purveyor of content is. NBC knows this, as does the NFL; though they might tsk-tsk at the antics of spoiled prima donna athletes, they also know the same silliness helps to keep ratings high.
All hypocrisy and commercial self-interest aside, Costas makes a very good point. Late in this past Sunday’s Jets-Bills game, Buffalo’s Stevie Johnson scored a touchdown, putting the Bills ahead. Not content with the knowledge that he’d scored and put his team in a position to win, Johnson launched into a long, involved, and arguably tasteless touchdown dance. In it, Johnson mocked Jets receiver Plaxico Burress and (in the minds of some observers, at least) 9.11. For his performance, Johnson received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The 15-yard penalty was assessed on the ensuing kickoff, the jets started their drive with great field position, after which they scored a touchdown of their own. The Jets eventually won; whether or not it was due to Johnson’s theatrical excess is a matter of conjecture, but it certainly didn’t make it easier for the Bills to win.
But in this case, it was Johnson, who shot himself in the foot, as his display cost his team a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff. And given a short field, the Jets proceeded to score in a critical game that wound up, 28-24, New York.
I once had a football coach who was known for screaming “ACT LIKE YOU’VE BEEN THERE BEFORE!!” anytime we scored (not that this happened with regularity, mind you). His philosophy, though often vociferously and profanely expressed, was that there’s no need to show up the opposition or, worse, incur an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It was about team, and about not doing anything silly or stupid that might hurt our (admittedly slim) chance at victory. Today that message would probably get you laughed out of an NFL locker room.
I get that it’s tough to score, and that a touchdown represents the culmination of a lot of blood, sweat, and toil. These days, though, a touchdown is less about the six points it represents than it is about providing a stage for the player who scored. It’s about an athlete showing off his moves and personality in a way that fairly screams “HEY!! LOOKITME!! LOOKITME!!” It’s stupid, it’s silly, it’s self-absorbed…and it should have no place in the NFL, or anywhere in football.
Johnson’s virtuoso performance arguably contributed to his team losing. While this is the sort of thing that probably should be, and was, addressed in the Bills’ locker room, coaches and management should be sending a very clear message to players: GROW UP!! Stevie Johnson, while a talented and serviceable NFL receiver is not so gifted that he couldn’t be quickly and easily replaced by 15-20 other currently unemployed wide receivers. Rather than seeing a touchdown as an opportunity to audition for the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars, perhaps he should be focusing on how fortunate he is to be in the NFL.
I’d like to think that players and coaches would be able to keep a lid on those who feel the needs to selfishly display their dancing skills when they score. After all, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in a close game just might be (and evidently was) a deciding factor in determining victory or defeat. If I was Stevie Johnson’s teammate, I’d be wanting to kick his @$$. Of course, I was a quarterback and a punter, so the idea of my kicking anyone’s @$$ is laughable at best. I never made a tackle (at least that I can recall), and my last fight was in 5th grade. I’m no one’s enforcer.
Here’s an idea whose time has come, though: “ACT LIKE YOU’VE BEEN THERE BEFORE!!” Instead of displaying your inner jackass for 80,000 screaming ninnies and a national television audience, how about tossing the ball to an official and running off the field to accept the well-deserved congratulations from your teammates and coaches? Your touchdown is but one moment in a 60-minute game; why take a chance on incurring a penalty that could possibly cost your team the game?
Or is it really just all about you??
