Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys: Elliott's Red Kettle Leap Should Signal Change to the NFL

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:54 p.m. ET

Fansided, Reid Hanson/FanSided via Sports Dallas Fort-Worth

The Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott drew a penalty and awareness when he made ‘the Red Kettle Leap’ on Sunday Night Football. It may just usher change.

It ain’t called the No Fun League (NFL) for nothing, folks. Early in the second quarter the Cowboys lead back, Zeke Elliott, split threw the line for the go-ahead touchdown, finishing the run inside the Salvation Army’s famous Red Kettle prop.

The move drew cheers from the fans, admiration from the broadcasting crew, and a flag from the officials. The 15-yard penalty that comes free of charge with the flag was the biggest downer in an otherwise entertaining chain of events.

The penalty itself wasn’t surprising. The NFL has long been against the using of props during celebrations and have remained relatively consistent in their enforcement. What exactly constitutes a prop may be up for debate, though.

“Well, he shouldn’t have done it,” Jason Garrett said regarding the leap. “I thought it was creative, but he shouldn’t have done it. That’s how the league is going to rule on those things. You have to understand what’s legal and what’s not legal. You can jump into the stands in Green Bay, but you can’t jump into a Salvation Army bucket in Dallas.”

Jason Garrett isn’t the first person to bring up the hypocrisy in the tundra. Why are the stands not considered a “prop” in the celebration? Is it because they are a permanent structure? If so, I’m sure teams can get creative with permanently fixing objects like giant red kettles to the stadium turf.

“The rule hasn’t changed in terms of what is and what isn’t taunting,” the NFL’s senior VP of officiating said of the officials focus on excessive celebration earlier in the season. “Fouls go up initially, and then as the players start to regulate their behavior and they understand where the bar is, we start to see the foul numbers go down.”

Dean seems to be confusing two very important and very different things — excessive celebration and taunting.

I’m the first to say taunting has no place in sports. Taunt before the game and taunt after the game but no one should mock or boast in the face of their competitor during the game. Theatrics in the endzone are not taunting.

Needlessly backpedaling into the endzone (ala DeSean Jackson) is taunting to most of us, but not to the NFL. The NFL chooses to flag harmless endzone fun instead. So the one that is actual taunting is not penalized while jumping in a bucket is. Got it?

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Now Zeke and the Cowboys attached some goodwill to the entire event and all but labeled the leap as an act of charity. The Salvation Army is even reporting a significant boost in donations since the event.

Now I don’t believe for a minute that Zeke was thinking of charity as he planned his Red Kettle Leap before the game. But that’s OK. It’s harmless fun that neither mocked nor ridiculed the competition. It’s entertainment and the NFL should be embracing it. Not penalizing it.

“Act like you’ve been there before,” once said Barry Sanders. Well, Barry, that’s good for some but not all. I support your right to act like a classy gentleman just like I support other players if they want to have a little harmless fun.

It’s time for the NFL to revisit a dated policy. It’s time to admit the NFL is all about entertainment and celebrations are part of that entertainment.