Cardinals’ Chandler Jones will dance after NFL changes celebration rules
May 25, 2017, 4:27 PM | Updated: May 26, 2017, 11:34 am
Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones (55) recovers the fumble by New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The time and place: Sept. 11, 2016, at University of Phoenix Stadium.
The view: Markus Golden has stripped Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and Cardinals teammate Chandler Jones recovers.
To celebrate, he and Arizona corner Patrick Peterson do the Charleston dance.
Flag.
To Cardinals fans, the penalty was a 15-yard loss.
“To me, it was 17,000 dollars,” Jones told Bickley and Marotta on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station. “I got a FedEx that said, ‘Hey, you had a team celebration or a choreographed celebration, and we’re going to charge you 17,000 dollars.'”
Come next season, such a post-play celebration won’t be a penalty.
The NFL on Tuesday announced choreographed dances, using the ball as a prop and going to ground during celebrations are now allowed.
Jones is particularly excited about it.
“I’m a guy that likes to show emotion and likes to do a few dances so knowing that they’re going to kind of back off of those flags, I might have something that’s brewing up,” he said.
“When I found out about it, I kind of read it and I was kind of like, ‘Ah, this is just an ad, it’s not real.’ Then I actually read up on it and I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is real. So let me get into the dance room and start choreographing some dances.”
Jones isn’t criticizing the big boss, Commissioner Roger Goodell, for the old, restrictive rules.
While the rule change will make the game more fun for fans and players, Jones is also happy he won’t be worried so much about controlling his emotions in the middle of a game.
“You’re out there and you’re thinking about, ‘Alright, am I showing too much emotion? Am I going to get a fine in the mail tomorrow?'” he said.
For the anti-celebration folks, Jones offered perspective on the “act like you’ve been there before” side of the debate. Football, a violent game where a big play might come once in 25 snaps, can’t be played without a little expression.
“The feeling of a sack is unparalleled, the feeling is unmatched,” Jones said. “You work so hard, you think about how many times the quarterback drops back in a game and how many times a player gets a sack.
“To get back there and get a sack and then try to bottle up that energy up like, ‘Oh, OK. Let me act like I’ve been there before,’ no. I am going to dance. I am going to dance when I get back there.”
