The NFL is seemingly trying to do everythingin its power to take the fun out of the game. Theleague recently banned the controversial hip drop tackle which caused outrage among some players and fans.
Now they have taken it up a notch byinstitutinga 15-yard penalty on the so-called “nose wipe” celebration on Wednesday per ESPN NFL analyst Benjamin Solak. A celebration that wasfirst popularized by quarterback Deshaun Watson when he was with the Houston Texas in 2018. LeBron James'usage of the celebration was brought up in the trial of rapper Young Thug and questioned whether it wasin any way gang-related.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has been known to use the nose wipe celebration.
Fans, along with a certain player and analyst, didn't take this move lightly, which is putting itreally mildly.
The NFL is feeling theheat
The flurry of negativeresponses on social media to this decision has been palpable. One of the most blistering was from Solak himself.
“According to the full rules report sent to NFL teams this week, the “nose wipe” celebration is now a15-yard penalty for being a “violent gesture,”@BenjaminSolak posted on X. “Which, I mean, c’mon.”
Solak followed that up in a repost that read SOMEONE think of the CHILDREN”.
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“My kids used to be straight A students,”@JaguarGator9NFL posted on X. “They saw CeeDee Lamb do the nose wipe celebration. Now they dropped out of school and 2 of them are doing time in the slammer, all because they saw Lamb wipe his nose.”
“The rule committee must all have 1-3-year-olds,”@dustinantoine22 posted on X. “Trying to wipe their noses usually does turn borderline violent.”
“Good,”@2MINIHULK posted on X. “I was so offended by this ever so “violent gesture”. Thank you, Roger Goodell, for saving the NFL.”
CeeDee Lamb went on to repost Solak's announcement.
“smh, I have plenty in mind” @_CeeDeeThree posted on X.
For everything the NFL has to offer, good or bad, this is not something that warrants any sanction. In the words of former President Joe Biden “c'mon man!”.