What the TD celebration in 'Jerry Maguire' would look like now
— -- Twenty years after its debut, "Jerry Maguire" remains a movie about love, professional fulfillment and what it really means to "show me the money." Football was a vehicle for a larger story, which fortunately didn't depend on an accurate depiction of the actual game on the field.
In the most extensive football scene of the movie, Arizona Cardinals receiver Rod Tidwell -- played by Cuba Gooding Jr., a 28-year-old rising star -- is knocked unconscious after catching a critical touchdown pass. We won't get into why the mid-1990s Cardinals, who had one winning season between 1985 and 2007, were appearing on Monday Night Football. Nor will we make light of the "treatment" Tidwell receives for the head injury.
In a window into the way concussions were viewed at the time, Tidwell remains on his back, clutching the football for several minutes while medical officials attempt to "wake him up" by clapping and calling his name. "Rod? Rod! Can you hear me?"
Tidwell then "woke up" and miraculously performed the greatest post-touchdown celebration in Hollywood history. It was so good, in fact, that the NFL -- known as the No Fun League even then -- would never allow such a thing these days.
Let us count the ways:
1. Today, Tidwell would be penalized immediately for taking off his helmet in the end zone. That's unsportsmanlike conduct, a violation of Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(i) of the current rule book.
2. When Tidwell kissed the football, an eager official might well have considered that a penalty as well. Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(g) prohibits using the ball as a prop for, in this case, something he wanted to show affection toward. (Sorry, I'm just the messenger!)
3. After spinning the football, which I think would have been legal because he didn't do it in the direction of an opponent, Tidwell would have definitely drawn a flag for his wild, full-body spin-dance move. Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(d) prohibits players from going to the ground during a celebration.
4. Technically, Tidwell shouldn't have been penalized for jumping into the crowd at the faux Sun Devil Stadium. The Lambeau Leap exception for post-touchdown celebration would apply.
5. I'm going to guess that Tidwell would've also earned a penalty for an excessive celebration. By the time he had removed his helmet, kissed the ball, spun it, gotten jiggy with it -- Will Smith's tune of the same name dropped one year after the movie -- and lowered himself from the stands, nearly two minutes had passed. That infringes on a lot of commercial time for NFL broadcasts.
Don't get me wrong. A moviemaker's top priority is to provide entertainment, not realism. The NFL has been fighting that tendency for decades, and so it goes.
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