Jason Garrett never got to do many touchdown celebrations during his playing career, considering he ran for no touchdowns and threw only 11. But the Cowboys coach has his players’ back when it comes to celebrating a score.
Garrett and Ravens Coach John Harbaugh played a role in the NFL’s decision to relax its celebration rules for this season.
“I think as much as anything else where we came at it as a coaching group was just to have a common sense approach to it,” Garrett said via Todd Archer of ESPN. “It just seemed like sometimes we had some rules in place that we didn’t really understand why those rules existed. There seemed to be some inconsistency to it. So we had a long discussion as a group and just tried to come up with some common-sense parameters for how to instill some of the fun back into the game after somebody scores a touchdown without distracting from the team concept. We made some recommendations as a coaching group, and I think they used some of them.”
Garrett knows the league needs a line, considering some of the notorious end zone celebrations performed by Doug Baldwin, Joe Horn and Terrell Owens. But most touchdown celebrations are fun and games, and players have a right to enjoy the moment.
The Cowboys point to the ludicrous penalty Marc Colombo received in Tennessee in 2010. The offensive lineman lost his balance after a chest bump with tight end Jason Witten in the end zone, and officials flagged Colombo 15 yards for going to the ground.
“It’s a tricky deal,” Garrett said. “We don’t want to take it away from the team. I think everybody understands that. But at the same time, football is fun. It’s fun to be part of the National Football League. For the players to have some fun and show some personality, I think that’s a positive thing for the league.”