It's a familiar sight for New Orleans Saints fans: The Saints' offense is in the red zone, and quarterback Drew Brees takes the snap and prepares to throw the ball. Brees does his patented neck crane as he looks for a receiver, avoiding the rush.
In the end zone, New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham comes open at the last second, and Brees zips a perfect pass through tight coverage for a touchdown. Graham, to hype up the Saints fans even more, takes the ball and delivers a thunderous dunk over the goal post.
The New Orleans Saints won't see that scene this season. No, Graham isn't leaving the Saints, and Brees will still be throwing touchdowns in the Big Easy next year. But Saints fans won't see next year Graham's signature post-touchdown dunk. On Tuesday, March 25, NFL owners instituted a rule change that makes dunking after a touchdown a penalty.
Graham is clearly the target of this rule after one of his earth-shaking dunks following a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome tilted the goal posts. The game had to be stopped as workers came out with a ladder and level to re-straighten the goal post. Graham tilted the goal post on another occasion last season, as well.
Dunking the ball is now considered a foul on par with celebrations using a prop. Originally, dunks were grandfathered into approved celebrations such as the Lambeau Leap.
At a time when the NFL wants to speed up the game while also reviewing more plays, the league decided to penalize dunks after touchdowns to avoid having to stop the game to repair the goal posts.
The New Orleans tight end took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the rule change. Graham tweeted "I guess I'll have to lead the @NFL in penalties next year! #funpolice" with a photoshopped official jumping up to block Graham dunking. The tweet has since been deleted.
More like this story
More stories by this author
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
