TD celebrations may be curtailed

Bad news might be on the horizon for Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson and the other purveyors of outrageous touchdown celebrations.

The NFL?s competition committee is proposing a crackdown on rocking the baby, teeing off like Tiger and anything else that might be considered taunting.

This isn?t particularly new. The league has smacked down celebrators who went over the top before. Remember T.O.?s dancing on the Dallas star in Texas Stadium? Or Johnson revealing a small sign asking not to be fined by commissioner Paul Tagliabue?

Or, of course, Joe Horn?s hidden cell phone trick in New Orleans?

But committee chairmen Jeff Fisher, coach of the Tennessee Titans, and Rich McKay, general manger of the Atlanta Falcons, believe enforcement hasn?t been strict enough recently.

?Individual celebration was getting out of hand,? Fisher said Monday at the NFL meetings. ?The players? association was unanimous in wanting to get this under control.?

So spiking the ball in the end zone will be OK. And spinning it on the ground, or dunking it over the goalpost. Dancing in the end zone is fine, too, as long as it?s not prolonged or a group effort.

Almost all other celebrations will be out if the committee?s recommendation to clamp down further on the frivolities is passed by the owners.

The new emphasis on unsportsmanlike conduct penalties will call for a 15-yard mark-off on the ensuing kickoff against the offending team, and possible fines.

Players can?t use props for any celebrations, and they can?t be on the ground when they do their thing. Asked what happens if a player is tackled in the end zone and begins celebrating while down, Fisher said it would be a penalty.

?Get up and dance,? he said, prompting laughter at a news conference.

?If they go to the ground to score and feel compelled to do something, get up!? McKay added.