Style points may not show up in the box score, but they do in our weekly NFL celebration grades. Showmanship is as much an art as football itself, so it’s important to appreciate the celebratory displays that we’ll see every weekend during the NFL season. It’s also important to roast the players who clearly need to work on their celly game.
Last week provided one of the greatest collective efforts in recent memory, so Week 13 had a lot to live up to. How did it do? Well, let’s get to the highlights.
Vikings play pickle
This may not only be the worst of the weekend, it could be the worst of the entire season. It’s a decent idea in theory but it proves that preparation is not only crucial to the gameplan, it’s also crucial to the celebration game. Adam Thielen tried to give last-second instruction to a few of his teammates but there seemed to be a general sense of confusion and the whole thing was a complete mess. Just an absolute disaster in the execution department. Grade: F-
Bobby Wagner‘s nap
This is a celebration we’ve seen plenty of times before, but the context of its use this time around made me laugh. After all, there’s no more appropriate time for a nap than after a defensive player runs the entire length of the field on an interception return. Get that guy some warm milk and a blanket. Grade: C+
Golden Tate‘s worm
New team, same Golden Tate. The veteran wideout finally scored his first touchdown as a member of the Eagles this week, so of course he had to break out a celebration for the occasion. He went with a classic, busting out the worm in the end zone against Washington. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it’s hard to knock a timeless move. Grade: C+
Taylor Decker‘s upper decker
Possibly the only thing better than a Big Guy Touchdown is a Big Guy Celebration. Detroit Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker provided us with both on Sunday when he caught a red zone pass and took it into the end zone for six. It was his first career TD and he promptly celebrated by launching the football into the crowd in amusing fashion.
The heave was pretty funny but if you’re wishing that Decker would have done a funny dance or something, just know that probably wishes the same. It appears he may have blacked out in the excitement of the touchdown and gotten carried away with the celebration. After the game, he asked the fan who caught his first TD ball to please give it back to him.
Luckily, social media came through.
It’s not often you come across celebrations that are both amusing and heartwarming. That’s the power of Big Guy Touchdowns. Grade: B-
Tip drill
With the 49ers visiting Seattle this weekend, that meant the return of longtime Seahawks (and current 49ers) cornerback Richard Sherman. Some of Sherman’s former teammates paid tribute to him in typical Seahawks fashion — via touchdown celebration. After a Jaron Brown touchdown, a few Seahawks players re-enacted Sherman’s clutch deflection of a pass intended for then-49ers receiver Michael Crabtree during the 2014 NFC Championship.
Ironically enough, Sherman’s deflection of that pass wound up turning into an interception for linebacker Malcolm Brown, who is now teammates with Sherman in San Fran.
After the game, Doug Baldwin said the celebration was meant to pay respect to all the things Sherman has done for the organization over the years. I’m sure Sherman would have appreciated it more had the Seahawks not scored on his defense (let alone put up 43 on them) but this is a pretty nice gesture. Grade: B
Seahawks’ macarena
Hey, look … it’s the Seahawks! The NFL’s best celebration unit dialed it back a couple decades to revisit the Macarena on Sunday. They aren’t the first to do it this year — Cincinnati’s C.J. Uzomah did it in Week 8 — but their effort is clearly superior. And, as I said the first time around, I will rank the Macarena highly every time because it deserves a comeback. That song — and dance — slaps big-time. Grade: B
Seahawks mine for gold
Oh look, it’s the Seahawks … again! It turns out when the league’s best celebration team puts up 43 points, they end up dominating this post. As you may know, I’m a sucker for opponent-specific celebrations, so when Seattle busted out the “mining for gold” celly against the 49ers, it was always going to be a favorite for best of the week. Luckily for the ‘Hawks, there was a pretty weak crop of celebrations this week and their only competition ended up being themselves. Grade: B