Robert Littal raises an interesting point on his blacksportsonline.com site about the reaction of commentators to New England receiver Wes Welker being penalized for his post-touchdown "snow angel" celebration. Welker, who made the snow angel after scoring in the Patriots' 48-7 victory over Arizona, was fined $10,000 today by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct, specifically for going to the ground to celebrate his TD.
Littal says any anger directed toward the NFL over the penalty or the rulebook itself reveals a double standard.
"Let me preface this by saying this has nothing to do with Wes Welker. I am a big Wes Welker fan, and I liked the snow angel celebration. I have absolutely no problem with it, but I do have a problem with the announcers calling the touchdown," Littal writes.
"Why all of a sudden, when Wes Welker gets penalized for celebrating, the rules must be changed? When it is T.O., Chad Johnson or any other wide receiver in the league, they are 'hurting the team,' 'being selfish,' 'only thinking about themselves and not the rules of the game' and 'being disrespectful to the league.'
"I can't stand hypocrites. It doesn't matter if it is T.O. or Welker
— if you are going to say that celebrating is bad, stick with your story,
don't change your opinion just because you "like" the player celebrating."
Or, for that matter, the celebration.
Here's a link to video showing Welker's snow angel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU8aCzzF1Ns
Comments
one finger pointing at me
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 11:59 — rogervdh (author)Gee, are you a TV commentator? I believe the point being made was directed primarily toward announcers who were calling for a rule change following the Welker penalty if they had not made the same argument following other TD celebrations and penalties.
In other words, not at you.
wow, how we arrived at wild
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 15:10 — leernealwow, how we arrived at wild generalization at the start to now where you want to split hairs on who this was directed at??? you're the one who put this out in the public domain where ANYONE could reply. i'm replying, get over it. t.o and chad have abused the priviledge and you know it.
td celebration
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 07:55 — leernealgee pal, maybe it's due to chad johnson beating the td celebration to death and 'cause welker is a first time offender? by the way, before you toss around the term hypocrite, the one finger pointing at me is outnumbered by the 3 that are pointing back at you