This year the NFL has outlawed dunking over the crossbars. One of the biggest offenders of this rule has largely ignored it.
On Saturday night Jimmy Graham earned not one but two penalties for dunking the football over the crossbar of the goal post. Both instances resulted in Graham earning a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
Graham’s touchdown celebration was largely ignored until last November when his dunking resulted in a crossbar becoming crooked and delaying a game. In preseason scrimmages he had ignored flags from NFL officials.
Following the second penalty Saints coach Sean Payton had words for Graham on the sidelines.
“Yes, I was. I’m very upset. Would you be upset?” said Payton after the game. “I was, particularly.”
“Coach Payton was completely correct to jump on him,” offensive tackle Zach Strief said. “Any of us, I think, would expect it. I think Jimmy probably expected it. Look, we don’t like seeing stuff like that on the sideline. That’s not how this team is.