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Falcons wide receiver Drake London put his team in a tough spot with the penalty he earned following the game-deciding touchdown he scored against the Eagles on Monday night, and his head coach entered the spin zone by asserting he wasn’t actually pretending to fire a gun despite all evidence to the contrary.
It took the NFL longer than it probably should have to relax its rules regarding the so-called “excessive” celebrations that were outlawed in the 1980s courtesy of the Washington team known as “The Fun Bunch,” but it mercifully opted to push back against the “No Fun League” label when it relaxed those restrictions ahead of the 2017 season.
Players were subsequently permitted to engage in group celebrations, spike and spin the ball, and dance in a non-suggestive manner after scoring a touchdown. However, there are still a number of moves that are explicitly banned, including the use of props, taunting directed at the opposing team, and “any violent gesture.”
Prior to the rule change, the NFL specified celebrations under that final umbrella include “slashing the throat, shooting guns, and shooting arrows.”
As a result, it’s pretty easy to understand why Drake London got hit with a flag after scoring a clutch TD with 1:05 remaining in the fourth quarter during Atlanta’s showdown with the Eagles on Monday Night Football for violating the ban on gun-related gestures.
It was a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when you consider the Falcons subsequently had to attempt to convert the extra point from 48 yards out, but Younghoe Koo was thankfully able to split the uprights for what turned out to be the deciding factor in his squad’s 22-21 win.
On Tuesday, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris came to London’s defense while reflecting on the win by offering a pretty laughable explanation for the WR’s gesture, as he suggested he was actually mimicking the firing of a t-shirt shit cannon as opposed to an actual firearm.
#Falcons HC Raheem Morris on Drake London’s gun celebration that was flagged:
“Drake is a great kid. His intent was not as a use of a weapon. He probably was shooting t-shirts into the stands, to be honest with you, because he’s just that kind of a guy.” pic.twitter.com/qFWFK9SfKn
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) September 17, 2024
I can’t say I’ve ever encountered a handheld t-shirt cannon with recoil stemming from its ability to rattle off close to ten pieces of swag in under a second, but maybe I’ve just been living under a rock.