Remember the days with Deion "Primetime"
Sanders and his dances? And when the top
of the celebration world consisted of
dances like the Dirty Bird and Icky
Shuffle? The days when "touchdown
dances" were actually dances, and not
just things done to raise your
popularity. When the game was simple and
there were no holdouts, no forcing your
own trades, nothing of that sort.
Today's players are possibly the most
selfish generation of athletes
professional sports have ever seen, and
by far the most egotistical. Things like
guaranteeing a win were rare, and only
done by players like "Broadway" Joe
Namath. But now, backups and borderline
starters are coming out and telling the
press that their team will win. What
for? Why would you want to subject
yourself to such criticism if you lose?
Is it to make your egotistical little
mind feel better about yourself when you
win? Or because a loss brings more
reporters to ask you what you were
thinking, thus making you more
well-known? From guaranteeing wins to
holding out of contracts, players worry
about themselves more than anything now,
which really isn't good for sports in
general.
Chad Johnson of the Bengals
has been most well-known in the last
couple years for his extravagant
personality and left-field touchdown
celebrations. He even has a list of each
cornerback who he has and has yet to
face this year, and checks whether or
not the corner covered him well. And of
course, he has only marked yes once,
whether it's due to him really believing
that, or just building his ego and
popularity, I'm not sure. His touchdown
celebrations consist of wacky and
outrageous things such as a fake
proposal to a cheerleader and
ressecitating the ball in the end zone.
Most of his celebrations are
light-hearted and loved by the fans, but
the problem is that the celebrations
overshadow the actual touchdowns, and
the fact that Johnson is one of the
hardest workers in the NFL. He has the
drive to be the best, something that is
rare in the players today. He stays
nights in the practice facility in Cincinnati, to watch film and wake up in the
morning and get back to training. And
yes, if you were wondering, he does
brush his gold-plated teeth there too. I
like Chad Johnson's anticts, I just wish
he would realize that even if he puts up
the best numbers in the NFL, he will
always be known as the guy who held up
the "Dear NFL, please don't fine me"
sign after scoring a touchdown.
Randy Moss and Terrell Owens
are known as the bad-boys of the NFL.
Both were called "cancers" to the teams,
especially in their respective team’s
locker rooms. But sometimes I wonder
whether the media blows the conflicts up
too much because of the player's star
status. If you have 53 men seeing each
other almost every day for 6 months or
more a year, there will be confrontation
and conflict. But there aren't many
times we hear of such things from
players who haven't made their mark in
the league. Sure, Randy Moss fake mooned
the packer fans, but was that really so
bad? He has been fine in
Oakland so far,
causing no trouble in the locker room.
But it's a different story for Owens,
who caused tons of trouble in Philadelphia, which eventually may have led to
the spiral downwards the Eagles are
taking. They did not make the playoffs
this year after going to the Super Bowl
last season, partially because of Owens
absence and the trouble he caused. Owens
problems were fueled by him thinking
that he needs to be payed more than he
was getting in his current contract
which was a 7 year $49 million contract.
Hey T.O., guess what, that is enough to
feed your family whether you think so or
not. Now Terrell Owens is either going
to be cut or traded by the Eagles and
will most likely get less money than if
he had never said anything.
One of the things that has
really been bothering me lately is when
players celebrate over doing what
they’re payed to do. Such as a wide out
or running back getting a first down and
doing a little dance or making the first
down hand motion. Isn’t that what you
are payed millions of dollars to do?
Then why dance after getting your job
done? I think the average American
should really take note if it’s really
that cool to do. Wouldn’t it be great to
see the garbage man, after dumping your
trash, hop out of his truck and do the
running man. Or when a janitor is done
mopping a floor, to take his shirt off
and slide across it on his belly. Now
tell me if that sounds ridiculous to you
or not, because it is the same thing as
when a player dances after a first down
or tackle. And it really bugs me when
special teams players think they’re so
great after making a tackle, well I hope
they know there is a reason they’re on
special teams.
The bottom line is that the NFL
and NFL organizations are getting sick and
tired of the rising ego of today’s players.
Players holding out of contracts hurts
franchises and the NFL fines players for
excessive celebrations. I don’t want to
sound like a tight-wad here, I used to be
all for celebrations, but it is just getting
way out of hand now. The players are setting
examples for high school kids and even
younger to turn into egotistical people,
whether they try to or not, it’s happening.
I don’t know how it got into players minds
that celebrating makes them look better, but
I respect the players like Marvin Harrison
who never dance after a touchdown, and worry
more about the team success than personal
accolades. If all players acted like that
the NFL would not have to be called the “No
fun league” and I’m sure teams would be more
lenient with contracts. So take note
players, holding out is okay, if you really
need it. Dancing is okay, if you really
earned it, but if not, please don’t make
yourself look like a fool
