The No Fun League has made it a point to take most of the fun out of the game. On Tuesday owners passed a rule banning the dunking of the football over the goalpost. According to the league’s vice president of officiating, players will no longer be allowed to dunk the ball over the goalpost after touchdowns.
Dean Blandino confirmed the new rule in a radio interview with “The Dan Patrick Show” on Tuesday. Blandino told the listening audience that dunking the ball over the crossbar will now be counted as a foul along with other touchdown celebrations that involve props.
The goalpost dunk had previously been grandfathered in as acceptable celebration, along with the Lambeau Leap.
“We grandfathered in some, the Lambeau Leap and things like that, but dunking will come out,” Blandino said, according to NFL.com. “Using the ball as a prop or any object as a prop, whether that’s the goalpost, the crossbar, that will come out and that will be a foul next season.”
The move was popularized by Tony Gonzalez, but it appears Saints Jimmy Graham was the inspiration for the rule after Graham twice knocked the uprights off balance. This deals a huge blow to all the NFL players that had been working on new goalpost dunks this offseason.
What’s next, is the NFL going to ban chest bumping, butt slapping and trash talking?
The NFL has bigger problems it should be worried about. At least 49ers tight end Vernon Davis is happy about the new rule change.
