I go to thinking about this the other day...
We all know Stevie Johnson got hit with a 15 yeard penalty for going to the ground during his TD celebration against the Jets.
With the Tim Tebow craze currently going on, I thought to myself "Wouldn't a player kneeling in the endzone be "going to the ground" and as a result, should be called a penalty?"
I don't know if Tebow himself has done this after a TD, but I know for sure that others have many times. Yet, I don't recall ever seing a flag for it.
Hell, while I was researching this, I learned that a Dallas player got hit with a 15 yarder when he accidentally fell during a chest bump: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl...ory?id=5685499
This is from 2010, so obviously, Stevie should have known the rule, as should every other NFL player.
So, my simple quesion is: Why is kneeling in prayer not considered "going to the ground," when every other incident (incuding falling by accident) is flagged?
-Bill
We all know Stevie Johnson got hit with a 15 yeard penalty for going to the ground during his TD celebration against the Jets.
With the Tim Tebow craze currently going on, I thought to myself "Wouldn't a player kneeling in the endzone be "going to the ground" and as a result, should be called a penalty?"
I don't know if Tebow himself has done this after a TD, but I know for sure that others have many times. Yet, I don't recall ever seing a flag for it.
Hell, while I was researching this, I learned that a Dallas player got hit with a 15 yarder when he accidentally fell during a chest bump: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl...ory?id=5685499
Spiking the football is OK, the chest bump is OK; however, going to the ground -- all part of that celebration -- is a foul, Johnson said. [It's] just like if a guy would go to the ground and do pushups or a guy who would simulate shooting a shotgun in a recoil and knocking them down to the turf and doing a somersault. It all falls in the same category. It is a foul for going to the ground as part of the celebration.
So, my simple quesion is: Why is kneeling in prayer not considered "going to the ground," when every other incident (incuding falling by accident) is flagged?
-Bill
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