Thanks To Reggie Bush
 

The Bears were back on their heels, when Reggie Bush pointed at Brian Urlacher as he ran in for the TD. First off, that should have been flagged. But more importantly, it got the Bears defense inflamed, and from that point on they shut down the Saints offense, and the Bears offense also did it's job.

Don't rouse sleeping Bears.

DA BEARS for the NFL CHAMPIONSHIP. (I hate the term "Super Bowl")

Bob

Why should this have been flagged? I do not believe there is any NFL rule or philosophy that deals with this kind of issue. The NFL is not like the NCAA or NF which have both addressed this specifically. The NFL has cracked down on many types of celebrations, but they do not deal with this specifically. You might not like it, but NFL Officials do what they are told and are scrutinized more than any of us will ever imagine. So if this was something the NFL wants addressed, you might see something change in the future. But as of right now, it fits the philosophy of previous plays.

Peace

I was wondering if that was a foul. I know you'll see UC-tauting flags after the play but the pointing was during a live ball. He got is due when the Bears used that play to inspire them the rest of the way in a blow out. And Reggie will now have a reputation for being a showboat. Let's hope he gets away from that because he's too talented to become another TO.

I live in Chicago and I have not heard anyone talk about this play by Bush hardly at all. Not to say that someone did not mention it, I did not hear anyone really talk about it on any level. I was not even commenting on the play other than the "should have been a penalty" comment. Whether it inspired the Bears or not is something that they would have to comment on.

I personally think the Bears were a better team and played like it. I do not think one play has anything to do with that win. I also think the country picked the Saints because they bought into a decent offense as most media people did in the BCS game and overlooked a very good defense.

Peace

What woke up the sleeping Bears was NO calling 2 straight drop-back passes in their on end zone when the o-line had already shown throughout the game that they couldn't handle the Bears pass rush. Two Macallister runs up the middle and a safe play-action pass followed by a punt was the correct recipe for that situation.

I thought that this thread was going to thank Reggie Bush for the increase of USC on scoring plays next year.

Remember in NFHS and NCAA live ball foul treated as a dead ball foul.

NFHS on the try.
NCAA, on try or KO.

Now if we could only get it changed to a "real" live-ball foul. Take points off the board and see just how fast this crap stops.

This "crap" isn't going to stop. This is the NFL, which is ENTERTAINMENT first and sport, second. And... the Bears didn't need any motivation, not when the S'aints have 4 turnovers. The better team won.

Old school
 

First a taunt, then a flip into the end zone, then a dance.

Yep - that's football.

Without that kind of stuff, nobody would watch the NFL. Nobody watches college football anymore since they took it out.

REPLY: Local newspaper reported that several Bears players were pretty ticked off at Bush's antics calling it "bush-league" (yeah, no-kidding) and "disrespectful" especially for a player whose team was losing. Some looked at practically: When asked what he thought of Bush's pointing/flip/dance, Brian Uerlacher responded, "Well, we're going to the Super Bowl...he isn't." Article also quoted Bush saying that "his emotions got the better of him" and that it was a "mistake on his part." He also apologized to his coach and his teammates--not the Bears. Now the $64,000 question...if the same situation presents itself in his first game next season, will he respond the same way???

The NFL DOES have a rule regarding taunting.

RULE 12 Article 1..(b) The use of baiting or taunting acts or words that engender ill will between teams.

Penalty: (a), (b), and (c): Loss of 15 yards from succeeding spot or whatever spot the Referee, after consulting withthe crew, deems equitable.

One of these days, a "hot-dogger" will do a flip into the end zone, land wrong, and break his neck and/or his back.

Also, when his team mates leap onto his back, and pile on him, the same result will happen.

Bob

That's why some universities have 100,000 in attendance at their games. And, if nobody watches NCAA football on TV, would the networks spend multi-millions of dollars to televise the games? And have sponsors standing in line to pay for commercials?

Bob

The issue is not just if there is a rule for taunting and baiting, but it is how the rule is applied. Just because you think this is taunting, it does not mean it fits the interpretation of the NFL and must be penalized. It is clear they allow things in the NFL that would never be allowed at other levels. But they penalize very specific actions like using the ball as a prop during a celebration.

Peace

REPLY: Actually saw a "taunting" foul (announced that way) called in an NFL game a few weeks ago. Don't remember the game, but I think it was the last regular season game. Offender (defensive back) got into the receiver's face yelling and pointing after knocking down a pass. It does happen...

I had an NFL official I know tell me they had a session on what is, and isn't a celebration/taunting. They are instructed on how to call these things.

That's why some universities have 100,000 in attendance at their games. And, if nobody watches NCAA football on TV, would the networks spend multi-millions of dollars to televise the games? And have sponsors standing in line to pay for commercials?

My sarcasm missed the mark, I see, BZ.

Mike Pereira, the NFL VP of Officiating, appeared on NFL Total Access this afternoon (Wed., Jan. 24). He explained three calls made during the Conference Playoffs. As for the non-call on Reggie Bush, he stated that it should have been flagged for taunting. And that the officials have been told to penalize that kind of behavior, even in the Super Bowl.

Bob

And before anyone starts thinking the NFL has come to their senses on the post TD stuff, what he said should have been flagged was the taunting the Bears during the run and not the end zone flip after the score. I guess it is a start.

Reggie Bush may be an ex-Heisman winner soon.

And USC may have one less national championship on their record.

Stay tuned......

REPLY: Assuming that you're referring to http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?s...yhoo&type=lgns

This folllow-up from ESPN this morning: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2741773

Given that play how would everyone have handled all that in NF and NCAA if it happened to you. You had three separate acts. All pretty distinct.The taunt, the flip and the dance.

Would you have had called one, two or three?

Yup, and anybody that thinks that this is an isolated case is living in la-la land too.:D

That is a qood question. I probably would have lumped them into one foul and then hope the coach will take of the issue from there. I'd certainly have a "talk to" with the player and let him know that each of those acts could have been penalized separately.

My Opinion
 

Personally (NF only), I'd have called two - the taunt and the flip.

By then I'd be out of flags, Macho-man would be hasta la vista, and a 65 yd extra point is only ever-so-slightly less likely than a 50 yd extra point at the high school level. The third USC is meaningless.

Besides, with two flags already on the ground, he's probably not going to be doing too much dancing!

Did Reggie have to take a pay cut when he signed with the Saints?

Fight on for USC, the tailback want his salary.

Bob

Sorry, I didn't make my remarks clear - in the NFL, they can do whatever they want. It's a business, and all of the players are also businessmen. If they want to put their assets (i.e. their body) at risk by pulling stunts like that, so be it.

I'm aiming for youth sports, where moves like that have no place, in my opinion. At that level, I'd very much like to see a rule change making most USC a live-ball foul.

Bush gets a slap on the wrist
 

The NFL finally gave Bush a $5,000 fine not for his flip but for his pointing.

That amounts to a mere pittance out of Bush's contract.

Still have to wonder why the officials did not give him a 15-yarder right then and there.

The NFL players cannot do whatever they want. In this play, it was legal for him to flip and then dance. However, it was not legal for him to taunt. He should have been flagged for taunting.

Isn't this what happened to the Univ. of Oklahoma QB this season? Peterson, I think. The Ok/BSU bowl game was his first game in about 3 months because he did a flip or a dive or something into the endzone and broke his collarbone.

Ah, no.

Peterson was a running back (not a QB) and he dove into the EZ with players hanging on him in the process. He did not do a flip or outrun a lot of players and taunt them. Actually Peterson's effort was normal and more of a freak accident. You cannot even equate the two incidents. Both were great plays, but Peterson was surrounded by defenders and lunged into the EZ. Bush beat the entire Bears Defense and had enough speed to run completely away and then had time to flip into the EZ.

Peace

Jeez, you're absolutely right. I would've sworn that he was the early season QB. But after quick fact-checking on espn.com, you're completely correct.

But I also would've sworn that his dive wasn't really necessary. I remember it being discussed on sports talk. I though there were players around, but nobody making a play on him. Oh well, I've been wrong before.

That is easy for anyone to say and you were not on the field having big players running to hit them. If I remember correctly Peterson just broke tackles (which was a great play) and made a last ditch effort to get in the end zone. I agree that he probably did not have to do it to get in the end zone, but I think he felt he needed to get into the end zone if players were hanging off of him. At least that is what I remember. This did happen back in October if I am not mistaken. ;)

Peace

Peterson gets sort of tripped up by a tackler and he sort of flipped around. So it could have looked like something that it wasn't. It's the last play in this video.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=jRysD-UHvBY

REPLY: Thanks sj...that's the way I remembered it. Anyone who would call that USC should probably turn in his whistle (only kidding ;) ). But that was clearly not a "hey-look-at-me-scoring-a-TD" dive into the end zone.

Right, it's important to remember that an unnecessary dive into the end zone isn't a foul - it's only a foul if it's obviously show-boating. I've had a runner dive into the end zone and I'm was sure he didn't need to in order to score, but there were defenders making a grab for him. From my view, the dive was not needed but he may have felt differently.

If you are lucky enough to be in front of the runner you can often tell a lot by their eyes. My back judge used to flag guys for leaping into the end zone and there was a defender close behind (3-5 yards). I could have interpreted he leapt for the purpose of eluding those tacklers, but he stated he could tell by the look on his face his true intent was hot dogging. The player argued otherwise but you would expect that.

eyes or no eyes it's not a foul if there's a defender within 3 yards of the runner.

What do you think of this:

Easy to flag a somersault.
Hard to flag an outright dive.

Along the lines of this topic it seemed to me that during the bowl games that excessive celebration and other UC acts were pretty prevalent. It just seemed like the 15 yards wasn't going to matter all that much. I was wondering if anybody else felt the same way. It would be interesting to see the statistics on the number of flags thrown for celebration compared to other years to see if the flags and penalties are really cutting the number of incidences down.