When Vikings defensive end Jared Allen sacks a quarterback, he celebrates by dropping to one knee and making a gesture with his arm as if he were throwing a lasso, like he's roping a calf. It's a silly and harmless celebration that he's been doing as long as he's been in the league, as a tribute to his rural upbringing, when he used to participate in calf roping and junior rodeo competitions.But the NFL has told him he can't do it anymore.
The league has long had rules about how players can celebrate on the field, and a recent point of emphasis has been prohibiting players from dropping on the ground to celebrate. Allen has now been told that dropping to one knee constitutes dropping to the ground, and if he does it again he'll be fined, and the Vikings will be penalized 15 yards.
"I wouldn't be too mad but it's the 15 yards the really gets you, the penalty," Allen said, according to Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune. "The fine, I'll eat the money."
But while Allen is going to stop celebrating rather than cost his team 15 yards, he says he doesn't get why it's such a big deal.
"Yeah, I just figured after seven years of doing it ... but hey whatever," Allen said. "Rules are rules I guess."
Allen did say he thought of one way he could get away with continuing the celebration while technically not going to the ground.
"I'm going to carry some cardboard with me and just slide it underneath my knee," he said. "It's legal right?"
Not a bad idea, but Allen probably shouldn't try getting that one past Roger Goodell.
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