NCAA moves to toughen already controversial excessive-celebration penalty
You hear about the move by the NCAA Football Rules Committee this week to further toughen the unsportsmanlike-conduct/excessive-celebration penalty?
The penalty, which stirred much controversy hereabouts when it was incorrectly called on Georgia’s A.J. Green against LSU last season, will get tougher in the 2011 season if approved by one more NCAA committee.
Basically, the change would make unsportsmanlike conduct a live-ball foul, meaning, for example, that a taunting gesture en route to a touchdown would nullify the score and be penalized from the spot of the foul.
The change would not impact penalties for celebrations in the end zone after a score, such as the one against Green, because those dead-ball fouls would continue to be assessed on the ensuing kickoff or extra-point/two-point conversion attempt.
Of course, the problem with the Green penalty was that it never should have been called. The SEC said two days later that video evidence did not support the flag, which came after Green scored the go-ahead touchdown. A 15-yard penalty was assessed on the ensuing kickoff and jump-started LSU’s game-winning touchdown drive.
At the least, the Green penalty underscored the subjective and inconsistent nature of such calls.
And now the stakes could be raised.
This week’s move to toughen the consequences of live-ball unsportsmanlike-conduct flags came in a Wednesday vote by the Football Rules Committee. In a comment posted on the NCAA’s website, committee chairman (and Oregon athletics director) Mike Bellotti says:
“Our committee firmly believes in the team concept of college football. Taunting and prolonged individual acts have no place in our game, and our officials have generally handled these rules well. This is just another step in maintaining our game’s image and reflecting the ideals of the NCAA overall.”
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel must approve the change before it can take effect.
What say you about this?
Also: Another SEC assistant joins $700,000 club.
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385 comments Add your comment
Septic Tank Rules!
February 12th, 2010
1:06 pm
409 yds last time, buddy. Gonna happen again. Sorry. What no degree?
Rather be a dead Dawg than a gator
February 12th, 2010
1:07 pm
Hey phonie Rennie,
The comment about the 30 yard penalty referred to the ‘98 UGA-FU game, MORON. LSU, nor UGA, was penalized 30 yards for the calls at the end of last years UGA-LSWho game.
LOL
February 12th, 2010
1:09 pm
“And for some of you whiny UGA fans, Tebow never taunted anyone (except for maybe the Oklahoma DB in the BCS Championship)… fist pumping does not qualify as taunting… an entire team emptying the bench and celebrating a touchdown on the field, however…”
Really, scoring a touchdown and mocking the LSU student section with the ‘call me’ fake telephone thing is not taunting?
Moron!
Rennie
February 12th, 2010
1:09 pm
I really Rennie. Why didn’t you tell me we wud be cheated by the refs before I signed wit you?
Rather be a dead Dawg than a gator
February 12th, 2010
1:10 pm
Yeah Septic boy, I don’t remeber 409 yards last time either. You DO remember we played you a$$ clowns last year at Bubby Dudd and ran ALL over your butts, right?
termigator
February 12th, 2010
1:11 pm
LOL, I would say that the phone call thing was payback for being bothered all week, kinda like calling timeouts at the end of the game was payback for your lame celebration. Boy Sturdivant can dance though.
Jake
February 12th, 2010
1:12 pm
What about the fans,, will they get flags called on them too. The rules could get like the Masters.
ga gator
February 12th, 2010
1:12 pm
Just a Gator, go away no tresspassing here.
True Dawg Fan
February 12th, 2010
1:13 pm
We are going to wear freaking black helmets, black pants, AND use a black ball this year. Mark Richt is going to dye his hair black and we will play Back in Black as we come out on the field. Fans will all be wearing black panties too. We are going to dominate Florida. Sincerely, True Dawg Fan.
P.S. — dont forget to pick up your free degree with your season tickets. Football Factory Baby!
JIm
February 12th, 2010
1:14 pm
To this fan, college football has a far worse problem with taunting by defensive backs than with excessive end zone celebrations.
Rennie
February 12th, 2010
1:14 pm
ga gator imposter, they miss you over on Bill Kings blog.
LOL
February 12th, 2010
1:15 pm
“LOL, I would say that the phone call thing was payback for being bothered all week, kinda like calling timeouts at the end of the game was payback for your lame celebration. Boy Sturdivant can dance though.”
Oh, it is payback, so that makes it ok. Yeah, that makes sense. So, if the OU defender had ripped Tebow’s head off on the next play after he chomped in his face, you would have been ok with that?
Poor little Timmy getting bothered all week by those mean LSU fans. I bet he cried…….again!
DAWGS4LIFE
February 12th, 2010
1:15 pm
I notice that more of the people who have never played a down of football have the most problem with celebration. Remember people this is a game as much as you want to make it a business it is a game that kids and young men play. You celebrate when you play any other game I don’t see rules in the rule book banning the baseball teams for celebrating homeruns when the entire team comes to home plate or tennis players yelling when they make good shots or gymnast when they nail a perfect routine. My point is it seems that football is the only sport that fun and emotion is not allowed. As a former ball player at the D I-A level I hate the thought of this rule you put in your blood sweat and tears all year and then some tigh @sses in suits who are not on the field on sat. tell you cant celebrate a good play in a game. Now i agree there is a difference between taunting and celebrating but where dose an official draw the line everybody sees things differently and that will lead to controversy.
409 yards
February 12th, 2010
1:16 pm
No, all I remember is we rushed for 409 yards on you guys. Wow, that sounds like a lot every time I say it. 409. Didn’t forget did you? I know you dawgs are not good at math. 4-0-9 yards. Thats a lot. Now hurry up and make my pizza, dawgtard.
Richard Hamilton
February 12th, 2010
1:17 pm
I honestly don’t understand this type of penalty. As long as your not directly taunting the other team, their players, or their coaches. I mean they showboat all the time in the nfl and it’s fun to watch guys get excited about scoring a touchdown or making a big play.
Before long the NCAA is going to make it touch football and have them playing football in skirts.
termigator
February 12th, 2010
1:18 pm
LOL actually if you WATCHED the game the OU defender was running his mouth the whold game and Tebow actually showed he was human and retaliated by Chomping at him. As far as crying, he only cried once in 4 years against the puppies.
LOL
February 12th, 2010
1:20 pm
I did watch the game Termigator and maybe, just maybe, little Timmy should have practiced what he always preached and been a good Christian. You know, that whole turn the other cheek ideal.
Nick
February 12th, 2010
1:21 pm
Funny that Oregon’s AD is commenting on this. I guess he knows well about unsportsmanlike players, a-hem, Mr. Blount.
Rennie
February 12th, 2010
1:22 pm
You gayta’s know now that us bulldogs are the only ones that get penalized, we get picked on by dem o-fficials.
Steve
February 12th, 2010
1:23 pm
The only to enforce this rule would be zero tolerance. Other wise the refs.may only see one team doing the taunting.
Vandy Grad
February 12th, 2010
1:23 pm
If UGA dances on our midfield logo anymore, they should be given a penalty for EXCESSIVE STUPIDITY. Of course we will start kicking UGA’s butt on a regular basis so there won’t be any need for the Pups to celebrate.
termigator
February 12th, 2010
1:24 pm
LOL, I actually would agree with you about the Christian thing. Like I said he showed he was human. Don’t you think the cell phone thing was kind of funny. I don’t know if you could of heard it on TV or not but the whole LSU student section was chanting before he did it:”FU Tebow…”.
John
February 12th, 2010
1:25 pm
The bigger the game, the more emotional the game will be for both the fan and the player. We’re asking the players to play to their highest level without displaying any emotion like robots. A player that catches the touchdown with 10 seconds on the clock will behave in somewhat the same manner the fan that enjoys his catch. (Jump up, dance, spill their beer, curse) Why can’t the player enjoy it as well? Why are we asking 18-20 year old kid to act like adults while we act like 10 year old grown kids after the game winning touchdown? Why are they being asked to hold a higher standard than us?
Al
February 12th, 2010
1:25 pm
Bad Idea! It is very difficult to judge such behavior while a live play is going on. Why not issue a warning to the specific player the first time it happens then an automatic ejection on the second action. This would curb most taunting without affecting gameplay like the proposed rule.
termigator
February 12th, 2010
1:25 pm
Enter your comments here
rumble
February 12th, 2010
1:25 pm
didn’t LSU get the same penalty called on them during that game… just saying
coach smith
February 12th, 2010
1:25 pm
Horrible idea that will lead to much much more accusations of favoritism and hidden league agendas
BAD IDEA
Tom
February 12th, 2010
1:30 pm
Just allow one player to score one touchdown per game. Once a player scores they are automatically ejected from the game …. just in case they might do something later. This also will allow more players to play … a real “team” sport.
Paddy
February 12th, 2010
1:32 pm
A bad rule made worse! If they are so interested in the integrity of the game, work on having a playoff system…Thats what the true football fan wants and the game deserves.
GT aluminum foil
February 12th, 2010
1:38 pm
Why don’t they just change to european rules futbol?
ga gator
February 12th, 2010
1:39 pm
Rennie Curran, they WON’T miss you in Athens next year.
Rennie
February 12th, 2010
1:47 pm
ga gator If only I’d tackled Charles Scott they’d be singin my praises; imposter.
Rennie
February 12th, 2010
1:48 pm
ga gator imposter, hurry over to Bill Kings (you) site, they need you.
?!!!
February 12th, 2010
1:52 pm
You have got to be kidding me how can you call a flag on someone who will score and take points away this changes the game!!!This is a BS rule if this rule is passed i will never watch college football again.How can you even think of a rule like this?How can you stop a runner who is clearly going to make a touchdown in his tracks?O i get it the refs are tacklers now!What a crock they cant even use good judgement now.I can go to any game ANY dont matter which team it is and can point out either a no-call or a mis-call and ANY FAN could do the same for there team.If anyone supports this then your a MORON and have no business even watching the game of football!!!!!!!!
Gatorguy
February 12th, 2010
1:54 pm
boohooboohoobooohooo……you mutties stil crying about that call? They called it on LSU too!!! You could’ve won the game if your “great” Rennie Curran had tackled Charles Scott instead of being a small “speed bump”! Get over it!!!!
jakesdad
February 12th, 2010
2:01 pm
good lord! are y’all still whining about the Green call? look, I, 2nd gen Tech/10+ yr season tix holder, will be the 1st to admit it was complete & utter BS but face it – LSU could have started that drive in the parking lot & they still would have scored – get over it! I have (our game against y’all)…
skeptic
February 12th, 2010
2:04 pm
How much is to much?
David Granger
February 12th, 2010
2:16 pm
You’re certainly right that the call on Green was about as bogus as they come, but that was not what lost us the game. I appreciate the fact that the SEC admitted it was an error, and didn’t bluster and try to cover for it like they always used to years ago.
I wish they’d call a LOT of things a lot stricter than they do. After the Green call, for example, they quoted the “unsportsmanlike conduct” rule as being violated when a player either taunts or attempts to call attention to himself. Yet, they ignore it when a defensive back knocks down a pass and waves his arms for incomplete and shouts “NO NO NO”…they ignore it when a defensive lineman sacks the QB and goes stomping down the field pumping his arms up and down…they ignore it when a linebacker makes a good tackle and stands directly over the runner, glaring down at him and not moving or allowing the guy to get up. And all of those things are taunting and calling attention to one’s self…and SHOULD be penalized.
As far as I’m concerned, I wish they’d nullify a touchdown if a player is guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct AFTER he’s scored. Take the points off the board, and bring it back to the line of scrimmage…and mark off fifteen yards with loss of down.
Be consistent, and be strict…and take the damn “punk” out of football. I’m tired of seeing players…including my UGA dawgs….acting like that damn FSU scum.
dogman
February 12th, 2010
2:17 pm
why doesnt the ncaa fix the way the champion is crowned 1st, Football is a game of emotions, soon these guys will be wearing dresses and and high heel shoes, if a guy taunts he taunts, the pros do it, then again the pros also have a play off too right…….
Larry
February 12th, 2010
2:17 pm
FIRST….Get a life !
WHODAT?
February 12th, 2010
2:19 pm
Can’t do this, can’t do that… but the ncaa rakes in a lot of money, they are messing up the game like EA sports with ncaa football 2007-2010, sucks bad.
what ever happen to gamebreaker? hope they start making that game again.
Bob
February 12th, 2010
2:25 pm
If the players would act like sportsmen and not hoodlums and thugs there should be no problems. That there is a need for such rules is a shame to purpose and nature of college athletics.
On the other hand, celebration may not be the thing to penalize. I think of how goals are celebrated in soccer. They are pretty extravagant, but there seems to be something different about them. I’m not sure I can’t put my finger on it. It seems more of a team celebration of a team accomplishment, and less of a chest-thumping taunt. Something seems different, though.
LOL
February 12th, 2010
2:32 pm
Termigator, I did laugh at the cell bit and the LSU fans definitely earned it.
crusher dawg
February 12th, 2010
2:33 pm
Obviously the NCAA wants to control the entire game. The refs will start making worse calls and then the teams will be faced with dealing with it. Without any form of recourse.
Bobby
February 12th, 2010
2:35 pm
This is one of the reasons why real football is dead!!
collegedude
February 12th, 2010
3:03 pm
Amazing that all these new rules coming out now that the golden child Teblow is gone. No more writing on the eye black, now live ball celebrations. Not that the SEC biased refs would have called anything on UF/Teblow anyway, but Mr. “Phil 4:2″ & “taunt after every 1st down run like it was the final play of the superbowl” leaving now allows the NCAA & SEC to create & enforce rules that keep others from emulating him.
CFB Fan
February 12th, 2010
3:11 pm
It’s funny you can tell by the posts who the old farts are, the non-athletic, and the ones who actually played sports or competed in anything.
Again blatnat taunting is one thing, but you can’t legislate emotion.
Again any of you fans who are in support of this rule, then I suggest you follow suit and set a good example. When you’re at the game and your team scores a touchdown, don’t get up out of your seat and and yell, scream, high-five, or slap anyone on the back. Sit in your seat quietly and give a short, 10 second or so hand clap, and then STFU, until something happens that is worthy of applause. This is the equivalent of what we’re asking the players to do.
tidog
February 12th, 2010
3:19 pm
I fail to see how a penalty that caused a team to kick off from the twenty yard and steal the momentum of the team did not change the outcome of the game. UGA’s defense did suck but LSU’s offense was given a get a jail card and it changed the outcome of that game.
timthebrave
February 12th, 2010
3:21 pm
How can we make a bad subjective rule worse?…..hmmmmm….I think I got it
timthebrave
February 12th, 2010
3:27 pm
New rules according to ncaa football rule committee
1.No celebrating in football.
1a. Any player that smiles more than a 20% angle will from now on be penalized 10 yards
1b. If such player is caught laughing they shall be suspended for rest of game, unless they are named Tebow in which see new rule
2. Do whatever you want