Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown all did a version of the celebration against the Rams. Harry How / Getty Images
“NFL, why can’t I dig in my nose and flick it? What is bad about that?”
Brown was referring to the booger-flicking celebration that he, fellow receiver Jameson Williams and running back Jahmyr Gibbs did on the Lions’ first drive of the game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. No, they weren’t really digging into their nasal regions, but the referees didn’t like the mimicry and told them to stop, according to St. Brown.
“Bro, we do it after the first drive, our receivers coach says, ‘Hey, man, refs said you can’t do that no more,’” St. Brown told his brother Equanimeous St. Brown, who spent a few weeks with the San Francisco 49ers this summer before getting released in August, on their St. Brown Podcast. “What is bad about that? Is that disrespectful? Is that derogatory?”
Equanimeous said the NFL is “anti-fun. It’s not like you’re flicking an actual booger on somebody.”
The NFL did not immediately respond to questions from The Athletic.
Rule 12, Section 3 of the NFL rulebook mentions several types of gestures that NFL players can’t do during games. Nose-picking hasn’t been added … yet.
NFL players have a long history of pushing the envelope with their on-field celebrations.