Terrell Owens Excessive Celebration
LATERALS ARE BACK
Anyway, in hindsight, I think TO can easily take a lot of the blame for the start of the long decline into the No Fun League hole, which peaked several years ago with excessive celebration penalties so outrageous that pretty much everyone was getting mad about it and the league finally loosened up and it hasn’t been an issue since.
Owens wasn’t the first guy to celebrate a touchdown, but he might have been one of the most prominent artists of the celebration. Lots of players had identifiable and noteworthy celebrations before TO came along. Ickey Woods with the Ickey Shuffle. The Dirty Bird. Billy White Shoes Johnson with his weird flapping leg dance that might have been the first signature dance in the league. Deion Sanders was a prolific dancer and had his prime time dance. Lots of players have had signature celebrations since. What set TO apart wasn’t that he liked to celebrate, it was how he did it. He did it with arrogance, and by god does the older generation of football fans hate arrogance.
TO never had a signature move like those other guys. The signature move is fun. Everyone loved the Victor Cruz salsa dance except the team he just scored on. Signature moves are usually just fun and silly. Even the more arrogant ones have their own charm, like the Cam Superman or the Discount Double Check. TO took his art in more of a taunting direction. He did whatever he wanted and it was frequently a violation of the rules. The sharpie incident is very well known, he hid a sharpie in his sock for Monday night football and then autographed his own ball after he scored. He took a cheerleader’s pom poms and danced. He grabbed a big bag of popcorn and dumped it on his face. His most famous act came when he stood on the Dallas star and posed, twice, the second time resulting in retaliation by George Teague.
All of those moments are now classics and honestly delightful, the Sharpie is an all-timer probably only topped by Joe Horn’s Cell Phone. But man, if you were around when TO was playing, you knew how much that guy was just hated. TO was a giant arrogant ass who loved to showboat and it really pissed people off. I hated him when I was a kid too. Him and Deion were irritating showboats. These days I look back on TO more fondly and with more respect, though I still can’t stand Deion.
But him and Deion influenced a new generation of showboaters like Chad Johnson and endzone celebrations started getting weird. Some of the celebrations got a bit long and naturally huffy old folks got mad about it so in response it seemed like the NFL reigned it in slightly every year. We all know how bad it got. Vernon Davis got flagged for doing a free throw with the ball and that was pretty much the breaking point from what I remember. The pushback was finally strong enough the other way and since that offseason, things have been pretty good. They allow group celebrations and as long as something doesn’t delay the game or is too vulgar, it’s fine. Maybe the NFL finally realized that playing up the entertainment aspect was a good thing. I don’t see any complaints anymore. In fact celebrations are almost too common now and we don’t have any good signatures.
In terms of TO’s legacy, his celebrations and showmanship might be his strongest legacy. He was an outstanding player, but what do you think of when you think of TO? The Catch II, if you are lucky. Most of you probably think of the celebrations, or calling Jeff Garcia gay, or his feud with McNabb, or crying for Tony Romo, or maybe his shirtless driveway workout for the cameras. His excess showmanship is his legacy just as much as his diva attitude. I hated TO, but I do kinda miss him.
Merton Hanks was the first signature TD celebration I really remember. Don’t attempt it at home kids, your head might fly off
I’m not sure that didn’t happen to Hanks as well
It’s weird that you say he influenced Johnson when their careers overlapped so much. I get what you’re getting at, but it’s funny to say it that way.
The Owens-Johnson celebration ‘fued’ was such a fun part of my early watching days, with the pylon putt, proposing to a cheerleader, the gold jacket, Ochocinco was my first favorite player not on my team.
I just want to say that those niners jerseys were really cool
Best signature move today is the Hollywood Red Carpet Walk. Made even better by that gif of Baker Mayfield sliding into frame one time.
https://media.tenor.com/images/64a065ee03242161618d7764fa900b64/tenor.gif
Ohh man, Mayfield MAKES that one.
Terrell Owens was the best kind of heel, the kind that kept his villainy on the field. He was excellent, entertaining, and generally good for football.
A jerk on the field? Sure. Locker room poison? Eh, maybe. Off-field scumbag? Not much evidence of that.
The only celebration I don’t like nowadays is the group celebration after an INT. It does bring me some joy when the team that does it loses ::cough 49ers cough::
First thing I think of when thinking of TO is him going for around 170 yards in the Super Bowl on a broken leg
TO actually has a YouTube channel now, and its great to watch.
I think you can be a showman without it feeling arrogant and “team last” the way TO did it. I know he was great, but the first thing I think of with him is the way he made himself unwelcome on so many teams, the crying for Romo, the calling Garcia gay – it all overshadowed how good he is. Just because someone hasn’t found a way to be good AND entertaining in awhile doesn’t mean I celebrate the way TO did it.
I always liked Merton Hanks’ chicken dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHN2Y_Mjn8s
(sorry low quality video)
TO’s on the field stats don’t even make the top ten of things I think about when I think about him.
I hated him then and I hate him now. He was just arrogant and I don’t like arrogant people.
Full disclosure: I tend to be a fan of players more than teams which is probably why I feel like this.
Nobody was as big a showboat as Steve Smith Sr though.
hehe, “boat”
TO was kind of a dick with his celebrations. That was really my only problem with them (though I’m not sure I’m old enough to be considered an “old timer,” given that I’m in my 40s).
In general, though, I don’t mind celebrations as long as you aren’t a dick when you do them (and being too vulgar kind of falls in the “being a dick” camp, I think) and aren’t taking up too much time. I do enjoy the creativity of some of them. And some coaches actually encourage group celebrations as opposed to individual ones. Belichick, believe it or not, is one of them. He’s like, “if you made a great play, you should celebrate it along with all your teammates that helped make it possible!”
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