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player ready...The NFL fined Joe Horn as expected. It’s a mistake. What the NFL should do about the New Orleans Saints’ receiver is nothing. Fining him is as unnecessary as his cell phone stunt that got him fined. Even before the $30,000 fine, Horn announced it would be worth the price, although he now is appealing.
The NFL worries about its image. The NFL worries about individuals usurping the corporate logo for their own personal gain. The NFL worries about players mocking the sport by marketing themselves. The NFL worries about messages sent to the youth of America.
The NFL worries too much.
As Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said, “Things like that have a way of evening themselves out.”
The NFL should trust its game, its players and its basic rules of play and conduct. It shouldn’t write silly rules about silly end-zone demonstrations. It only prolongs the silliness.
It also opens up a debate about individual expression that invariably incorporates racial undertones. It can be an interesting academic debate, but also unnecessary.
The game is above all this silliness. The fundamental nature of football requires teamwork. If an individual undermines the team in any way, the team almost always fails–punishment enough. Nothing any individual does can threaten the fundamental nature of football as a team sport.
Horn’s demonstration got his team penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. That’s all that’s necessary, really. But because the NFL has made a big deal out of demonstrations and passed a rule against props and premeditated celebrations after Terrell Owens pulled out a stashed pen, Horn’s phone call will be remembered long after his four touchdowns.
About those four touchdown catches . . . they helped the Saints beat the Giants 45-7. So what? Neither the Saints nor the Giants are going to the playoffs. So you say the 15-yard penalty didn’t hurt them. Not this time, but maybe next time.
This was Joe Horn’s Super Bowl, his quest for nationally televised attention. But instead of becoming an amusing and irrelevant footnote, he became the focus of investigations, discussions and emotions bordering on hysteria.
If there had been no special rules against what he did, Horn’s call would have been dismissed as quickly as an annoying telemarketing solicitation, a desperate act by a desperate player on a desperate team. If it truly excited Saints fans, as Horn suggested, what’s the harm in providing a bit of joy to such a joyless franchise?
Can’t you just hear Saints fans? “Yeah, I remember that 8-8 season back in ’03. That was the year Joe Horn pulled out that cell phone. Ah, the memories. Our team underachieved for the 35th straight year, but Joe Horn certainly reminded us of what it’s all about.”
If any NFL owners, cities, coaches, players or fans want to get their kicks from end-zone demonstrations, rival owners, coaches and players should be happy to encourage it. If there is a chance for individuality to undermine teamwork, the just rewards will become apparent separate from any fine or suspension.
If Joe Horn distracted his teammates, his teammates will do their own police work. If he demeaned opponents, what comes around goes around. Likewise, coaches seldom approve of 15-yard penalties.
What constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct? Like pornography, it doesn’t always have to be spelled out. Officials should be able to recognize it when they see it. The league has tried to make a distinction between spontaneous celebrations and choreographed stunts and taunts. Players–teammates or rivals–know the difference.
“You should celebrate and have fun with it, but don’t try to one-up everybody,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “You’re paid to score touchdowns. Enjoy yourself, be happy with your teammates, but don’t make it about you. There are 10 other guys that helped that occur. Don’t make it so personal.”
Lewis has a young player, Chad Johnson, who is becoming one of the league’s best receivers and also is doing a good job of calling attention to himself. He held up a printed sign Sunday pleading: “Dear NFL, Please don’t fine me again!!!!!” It didn’t work; he was fined $10,000 for the prop.
As Johnson’s career unfolds, he either could become part of a team that gets to a Super Bowl or an individual content as a sideshow. If he or Joe Horn or Terrell Owens or Jeremy Shockey or Randy Moss or anyone else can get his team to a Super Bowl while mugging for cameras, entertaining their moms or offending friend and foe alike, more power to him.
Two demonstrations by Indianapolis Colts star Marvin Harrison stand above all the rest this year. In the first, he personally began the downfall of the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers by catching 11 passes for 176 yards to lead a comeback victory after Bucs receiver Keyshawn Johnson (now deactivated) mocked him.
The second was against Tennessee. After a spectacular one-handed diving catch, Harrison simply beckoned his teammates to join him 47 yards upfield with a slight wave of his hand–no dramatic first-down signal, no spike, no shoulder shimmy.
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Harrison seems to understand the basic purpose of the game. For those who don’t, the game itself usually leaves them behind regardless of rules, fines or suspensions.