With the NFL cracking down on all kinds of end-zone celebrations, enthusiastic young men who like to do wild and crazy things after touchdowns have been costing their teams 15 yards for various reasons. Taunting, shooting the football like a basketball, firing a fake bow-and-arrow ... even, gasp, sexually suggestive dances have drawn flags this year.
One main culprit has been Steelers wideout Antonio Brown, who has consistently pushed the envelope with his celebrations and cleat decor in 2016. The Steelers, for their part, are tired of it. And according to Ben Roethlisberger, the team has let AB know.
"Yeah, we did," Roethlisberger said when asked on CBS Sports Radio affiliate 93.7 the Fan if the team talked to Brown. "He knows, we all know, Coach Tomlin brought it up yesterday, that is a huge penalty that we can't do. We put our kick coverage team in a bad situation and we can't have it, and AB knows that."
But Ben doesn't put this all on Brown. He thinks the NFL is singling out the wide receiver and doing so in big spots, because all eyes are the Steelers in certain games.
"I know for a fact that he's scored touchdowns in one o'clock games that aren't the big prime-time games and they haven't flagged him," Roethlisberger said.
Brown has gotten multiple fines and flags for end-zone twerking -- the NFL even had to clarify what qualified as a sexually-suggestive dance because the Steelers wideout has been so prolifically provocative.
FYI: this qualifies.
And so does this:
.@AntonioBrown left one-on-one?
— NFL (@NFL) October 3, 2016
It's over.
TD @STEELERS! His second of the game! #KCvsPIThttps://t.co/rMDNm6wuw3
The latter drew Brown a $24,000 fine from the league.
It was fairly ridiculous, but it's the state of the NFL in 2016. Don't be out there doing the McCringleberry on a big stage.
The Steelers are in the playoff hunt right now, and they are far from guaranteed to win the division. They have huge games coming up against the Giants, Bills, Bengals and Ravens that will decide their fate.
Losing 15 yards after Brown scores isn't worth the price of admission and that's why Roethlisberger and the team made sure to have AB simmer down in the end zone.
