Is Commissioner Goodell sincere in letting Antonio Brown celebrate more?
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell filmed a quick selfie video with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown on Monday to help promote the league’s relaxed rules on touchdown celebration penalties.
🔥🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 @nflcommish pic.twitter.com/XHM60hRYoT
— AB (@AB84) June 19, 2017
For one, I’m ecstatic that the commish would appear on film with as big of a smile we’re used to seeing on AB’s face. The head of the NFL and it’s various public relations arms have been adamant they were meeting with players to gather their input to shed the cliche of their organization’s initials standing for the “No Fun League”.
Hopefully, the gesture is sincere.
Last season Antonio Brown was fined in excess of $60,000 for three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as well as violating the league’s uniform policy by wearing a number of colorful shoes.
Granted, Brown shaking his hips, in what could be construed as a “sexually suggestive” manner, might not be fun for everyone, but it does fly in the face of watching scantily clad cheerleaders do the same.
Or a former teammate playing in a different game, who wasn’t fined at all.
I do believe Goodell is making good on his promise to help speed up dead spots in the game and trying to remove any negative perceptions which could be placed on the game. The NFL’s popularity is at an all-time high. However, the implementation of instant replay and concussion-related lawsuits by former players have caused the league to remove common sense from whether a catch is in fact “a catch” and tamed allowable hits for long-term player safety. Those moves, combined with nitpicking emotional high points during games by penalizing teams on the field, and players off of it, have turned some fans off in recent years.
A move toward allowing Antonio Brown to be as colorful as allowed within the rules will, as the NFL hopes, help reignite the spark which got the game to the point where it is thus far.
And maybe keep some of that fine money in Antonio’s wallet!
