Allow me to get your imagination going: The Dallas Cowboys are down by two points and CeeDee Lamb makes a big-time catch on third-and-long to move the chains and keep the drive alive and get kicker Brandon Aubrey into field goal range.
What does he doe to celebrate?
He goes for the nose wipe. He's certainly not the only NFL player to do choose this recurrent celebration but he's one of the biggest stars to make use of it.
Well, not for long. The NFL is adding the "nose wipe" to its list of banned celebrations. According to ESPN's Benjamin Solak, the latest rules report sent to teams this week indicates the celebration will be considered a "violent gesture," just like pretending to hold a gun. The nose wipe is interpreted by many as a gang-related sign.
During the 2024 NFL season, Lamb was fined for using finger guns to indicate he was moving the chains. But the nose wipe was largely considered to be non-offensive, which made it his most common move.
Troy Vincent Sr., the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, said earlier on Wednesday that one of the league's goals this year was to come down hard on violent gestures and taunting in general.
"Sportsmanship [is a] critical topic," Vincent Sr. said. "One where we just saw during the duration of the season, (we're) not where we want to be professionally."
Though it's easy to see why the league is taking such an approach (avoiding fights and problems on the field), it's been a controversial story for years now. A large amount of both players and fans argue it's a professional league and as such there shouldn't be a problem with players taunting each other.
However, the NFL has given no signs of slowing down. This is yet another example that they're convinced about the route they've taken.
For Lamb, it's time to go back to the drawing board to come up with a new signature move. Hopefully, he'll need it plenty of times in 2025 with Dak Prescott coming back from injury.
