Redskins TE Vernon Davis yesterday made the "unforgivable mistake of having fun" when his touchdown celebration -- a "football jump shot toward the goal posts" -- received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, according to the WASHINGTON POST's Dan Steinberg, who wrote under the header, "The NFL Is Attempting To Legislate Joy Out Of Its Game. Maybe It Should Stop." Steinberg wrote, "Well done, NFL. Pretty scoring plays should definitely make athletes feel horrible and contrite." This entertainment product "might occasionally entertain, at which point the authorities need to step in, stifling anyone’s laughter with a yellow muzzle." Redskins S Will Blackmon said, "I'm surprised we can high-five. High-fives might be 10 yards next week, I don't know." Redskins CB Josh Norman: "It’s ridiculous. And if they’re going to say I’m outspoken about it, so be it, because this is what we do man. Having fun. Gladiators in the sport. Back in the day, they celebrated, they had their time, so why can’t we have ours? I don’t understand it, man, I really don’t." Redskins DE Chris Baker: "They're not really allowing us to have fun. But we understand that now" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/16).
GIMME A BREAK: Redskins S Duke Ihenacho appeared on "The Jim Rome Show" on last week and talked about playing on Thursdays. He said, "I just feel like Thursday night games are a drag, man. Physically our body just needs time to get healthy. It's already hard playing every Sunday, and then when you shorten that week by a couple a days it's hard to get psychologically and physically ready to play that game. That's why you see all Thursday night games -- they're not as good as the Sunday games or the Monday games. It’s a reason. It’s not a coincidence." He added, "They’re trying to oversaturate football. They’re trying to push football down everyone’s throat and it put on Thursdays. I think it’s fine the way it is -- just having it on Sunday and Monday" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 10/14).
SHOULD KIDS PLAY? The N.Y. TIMES ran an editorial under the header, "Head Trauma Haunts The Gridiron." Though many fans "fear a decline in the game’s stature and entertainment value, the league still has a way to go in attitude." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell prior to Super Bowl 50 said, "There's risks to sitting on the couch." But the editorial stated the risks are "clearly far more grievous on the field." It is "up to parents to 'think long and hard,' as President Obama has urged, about letting their youngsters play the game" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/16).
