Bowl season is near it’s end for another year. Honestly, this year I have not been glued to the flat screen over indulging in pointless (to me) football games sponsored by everything from a local department store (Charlotte N. C.) to Fritos. In recent years the most tiresome aspect of the games, be they college or pro, is the growing need on the part of the players to celebrate virtually everything that occurs on the field. It started a few years back with the mating dance of two player post touchdown. I’m not sure of the significance of two players jumping in the air and butting into each other but it has grown from it’s humble beginnings to a ritual that follows quite a number of plays. There is also the compulsory helmet slapping which I guess does not contribute to head injuries.
Expanding on the requisite celebration the entire team has gotten into the act. Defensive players now strut and make declarative gestures after every tackle as if it were the last play of the Super Bowl. Not to be left out, God gets a lot credit too. I see players point to the sky in thanksgiving after any number of accomplishments. I guess Tim Tebow forgot to tweet them that apparently God has forsaken football as he (Mr. Tebow) no longer plays in the NFL.
The latest in the parade of declarative gestures is the signalling of the first down by whoever make it. Apparently the players are not satisfied with the official making that declaration. So, inquiring minds might ask, what is this all about? I read recently an interesting theory. The reasoning goes that this is a form of self expression that has grown out of demeaning nature of modern football. Players have become nothing more
than a cog in the machine. It is illustrated by such things a the NFL blatantly ignoring the
consequences of head injuries and college level coaches with contracts that would make the CEO of any major corporation blush.
Regardless of the why behind all this my advise to that wide receiver and his teammate………. ..get a room.
irreverendt 