Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
The NFL’s tendency to prevent players from engaging in harmless celebrations is a major reason it’s been nicknamed the “No Fun League.” Now, it has cemented that reputation after Amon-Ra St. Brown revealed the Lions were told they’d be hit with a flag for pulling out an innocent gesture after a first down.
NFL players make millions of dollars a year while playing for franchises that are worth billions of dollars, but at the end of the day, North America’s biggest sports business empire is built on the back of a game.
The stakes might be high, but that doesn’t mean players aren’t allowed to enjoy themselves. However, the NFL has historically gone to great lengths to make sure they aren’t having too much fun with the many, many rules that dictate how they’re allowed to celebrate during a contest.
Some of those regulations are pretty reasonable. Taunting penalties are a fairly obvious game management measure designed to prevent tempers from flaring, and the NFL has plenty of incentive to ban suggestive and so-called “violent” gestures in an attempt to preserve a relatively clean image.
Players pretending to pick their nose doesn’t seem like a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, but it would appear the league begs to differ based on the message the Lions received during their most recent game.
Amon-Ra St. Browns says officials threatened to flag the Lions for pulling out a nose-picking celebration
NFL players spend a fair amount of time dreaming up creative celebrations, and the Lions recently decided to roll out a new one after defensive tackle Tyleik Williams floated the idea of miming the act of picking your nose and flicking a booger.
Jameson Williams with the booger pick and flick celly. pic.twitter.com/nYdiYIno8P
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) December 15, 2025
Now, I’d argue that would be a particularly appropriate gesture to pull out after an interception, but Lions receivers including Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Amon-Ra St. Brown decided to go that route to celebrate after catching passes during Detroit’s 41-34 loss to the Rams on Sunday.
However, St. Brown revealed they were forced to go the different route after an official spoke with the wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery, who informed them the referees threatened to call a penalty if the faux booger shenanigans continued.
“NFL, why can’t I dig in my nose and flick it? What is bad about that?”
After Amon-Ra, Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs all did the booger flicking celebration on the Lions first drive vs. the Rams, the refs told the Lions it would be a penalty if anyone did it again. https://t.co/pDHse20xat pic.twitter.com/83lBqcvYmC
— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) December 17, 2025
The NFL rulebook explicitly bans the “nose wipe” after the league classified it under the “violent gesture” umbrella during the offseason, and while it’s unclear why nose-picking is a no-no, the refs do have a fair amount of leeway to call an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty due to broad language concerning “insulting language or gestures.”