MDHigh.com - Prep celebration rules questioned

November 4, 2009

Special to MDHigh

By Paul Tenorio
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Washington Post

When T.J. Peeler from Broad Run High School crossed the goal line early in the first quarter Friday night in a game against Potomac Falls, he smacked the football twice in his hands, then turned and leaped to meet a teammate with a chest bump.

Peeler, who is one of the top running backs in the Washington area and has orally committed to play at Pittsburgh next year, was simply enjoying with a teammate his 63-yard touchdown run, but his celebration quickly drew a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct -- one of two such calls Peeler would receive in the game for chest bumping after a touchdown. The calls would earn Peeler a permanent place on the bench for the remainder of the contest, and perhaps for the Spartans' next game -- a Virginia AA Region II semifinal on Nov. 20.

Peeler's chest-bump penalties are the most recent example of a crackdown on excessive touchdown celebrations that has moved from the National Football League to college football and now to high school football games across the country. In the Washington area this fall, a wide receiver from 13th-ranked McNamara was flagged for pointing to the sky after a touchdown, and a Gwynn Park defender was penalized for pointing up at the sky after intercepting a pass. The player, who said after the game that the gesture was a tribute to his deceased grandfather, nonetheless cost his team yardage.

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