Was DeSean Jackson Out of Line Celebrating His Touchdown?

I hate that the NFL has decided to penalize end zone celebrations, particularly group celebrations. That makes no sense to me. No, no. Don’t celebrate with your teammates. But by all means, celebrate on your own, without sharing the fun. WE DO IT FOR THE KIDS. I’m of the mind that NFL players, who are fortunate to score any touchdown, should be allowed to celebrate as much and as long as they please: Sharpies, cell phones, piñatas…whatever. Let them live.

That said, DeSean Jackson went and did a naughty thing by turning around and falling into the end zone on his blazing 91-yard touchdown catch last night. Cowboys corner Mike Jenkins was most displeased with the display:

“It was disrespectful,” Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins said. “He knew he was going to score. That’s him. We beat him three times in a row last year, so he was going to come back and try to everything he could.”

Of course he’s mad. He’s the guy who got beat on the play. Not every Cowboy was as angry. Orlando Scandrick chimed in with the sensible quote:

“Don’t let him get in the end zone, and he can’t dance.”

Very true.

Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth spent some time after the play last night trying to figure out if Jackson really should have been penalized. After all, they argued, Jackson didn’t actually do anything once he got into the end zone. I think the ref flagged him just because he saw Jackson make the turn and decided it was kinda… I dunno, jerky. I think he wanted to penalize Jackson regardless. And when you think about it, isn’t it far worse to celebrate a TD BEFORE you’ve actually scored it, rather than in the end zone?

I wish we didn’t have to argue over something this silly, because Jackson’s play was fairly benign (and brilliant for the first 90 yards of it). But still, rules are rules, and Jackson was a dummy for making the turn when he had to know it would make the ref want to pull a flag. And Jackson, of all people, should know not to celebrate before reaching the end zone. It’s not the act I have a problem with, so much as Jackson being dumb enough to know it was probably going to cost his team. You see, it’s the NFL’s rule that’s forcing me to be a buzzkill about it. Stupid No Fun League.

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