Saints’ Jimmy Graham says you can’t have fun in the NFL anymore
By Mike Dyce
The NFL outlawed dunking as a celebration after Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez retired, though not necessarily because of that. The message was that the dunk was always illegal, they would just enforce it now.
That was the celebration of choice for New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, and it was him dunking on a cross bar and knocking it off center that was the catalyst for the rule. Graham isn’t ready to stop dunking and during a preseason win over the Tennessee Titans he dunked twice on the cross bar, which resulted in two 15-yard penalties.
Graham was then subsequently fined $30,000 for the dunks by the league, and he isn’t happy about it.
From ABC 13:
"On Saturday night, the Pro Bowl tight end finally responded to a $30,000 fine imposed by league officials. He called it “steep” and said “you can’t really have fun anymore.”"
Certainly Graham isn’t the first one to go through the NFL crackdown on touchdown celebrations. Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson know a thing or two about league fines for celebrating on-field success.
Graham is just learning the hard way.