Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to the
Views and Personal Photos on the Vikes from the Inaugural Hall of Fame fan.
Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to theI simply cannot write about the Vikings today. It is the first day of November and for those of us living in the frozen wastelands of The Tundra that is bad enough.
Write about the Vikes? Bah! I look out the window at high noon and see the sun has just started to rise over the horizon. In four hours time it will be completely and utterly dark. The trees are bare, the ground beginning to freeze and all those bikinis have been stored away for the coming ice age.
Why depress myself further with another rant about the boys in Purple?
So, let's talk about celebration instead! And what a great celebration this past Sunday given by the Carolina Panthers own Steve Smith.
After listening to Freddie Smoot talk another fine game before the first play of the game took place, Smith beat him for a 69-yard reception that put the ball on the Vikings 1-yard line. After making the catch, Smith sat in the end zone and pretended to row a boat.
Now, c'mon. You know that made you smile....just a wee bit. Be honest!
So, what are the best football celebrations of all time? Here is my Top Ten (and no, the LAMEbeau Leap doesn't even crack my Top 100):
10) New Orleans Saints Joe Horn: In December of 2003, Horn made a choreographed cell-phone call in the end zone to celebrate a touchdown. After catching the second of four touchdown passes in a 45-7 victory over the New York Giants, Horn was handed a phone by teammate Michael Lewis, who pulled it out from under the padding used to protect the goal post. Horn was still wearing his helmet when he punched in numbers, put the phone to the earhole and spoke into it for a few seconds.
9) San Francisco's Terrell Owens: On a MNF game in October 2002 while playing the Seattle Seahawks, Owens pulled a pen out of his sock and autographed a football after scoring a touchdown in a game. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue sent a memo to all teams warning that such stunts would be punished. Uh-huh, lot of good that did Tags.
8) Philadelphia Eagles Terrell Owens: In this one Owens was imitating and mocking the trademark celebration of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis after scoring a touchdown while playing against the Ravens in the 2004 season. Owens later apologized but Lewis had it coming.
7) Cincinnati Bengals Ickey Woods’ “Ickey Shuffle”: In 1988 Woods performs a goofy little dance he performed whenever he scored. Following each touchdown Woods would turn to the crowd with his arms outstretched, hop twice to the left, twice to the right, spike the ball and then twirl his right index finger over his head while swiveling his hips and howling, "Woo! Woo! Woo!"
The Ickey Shuffle sparked a nationwide craze, with Ickey songs, Ickey shirts, Ickey commercials and even an Ickey milk shake. Some people thought it, well, ickey. I thought it was a great craze for a team that made it to the SB.
6) Cincinnati Bengals Chad Johnson:With our love for the Irish, his Riverdance was fab. Did you cover 85 in 2005? Chances are, no.
5) Detroit Lions' Barry Sanders: Just score the TD, hand ball off to the official and act like you've been there before. This move also honored by our very own Robert Smith.
4) San Francisco's Terrell Owens: After he scored a 45-yard touchdown run against the Green Bay Packers on December 15, 2002, Owens celebrated by waving a pair of pom-poms borrowed from a 49ers cheerleader. OK, so I ranked this higher than it should be, but look who Owen's did it to.
3) Carolina Panthers Steve Smith: Not actually a TD celebration, but it was classic in the vein of tying in both the oft mentioned lake cruise sex party and smacking Fred Smoot right in the mouth. Probably spontaneous.
2) Houston Oilers Billy "White Shoes" Johnson: The grandfather of the TD celebration. He may not have been the first, but his "Funky Chicken” of 1974 is the most memorable.
1) Minnesota Vikings Randy Moss: The Lambeau Moon. Icing on the cake was the fact it disgusted Joe Buck. Boo-friggin'-hoo.
What are your Top 10? Or did I miss any that need to be considered? Leave a Comment below.
I liked Chad Johnson's sign "Please Don't Fine Me" that he used after he was already fined for his TD celebrations.
Posted by: Cheesehead Craig at November 1, 2005 08:19 AMSorry, but I'm not a fan of pre-planned antics designed only to call attention to the person performing them. A spontaneous celebration is fine, but I'd rather they left the dancing to the cheerleaders, who are a lot better at it. Maybe I'm old-fashioned (in fact, I'm even too old-fashioned to use the term "old school"), but I'm watching the game to see the game, not to see self-promoters calling attention to "me, me, me".
Posted by: Jeff at November 1, 2005 08:53 AMOld school here. Robert Smith and Barry Sanders at the top of the list followed by Randy's mooning (but to get it you have to know the tradition). Thanks for informing me of Smiths celebration I just couldn't tie it together. I was thinking what the he!! does a canoe have to do with making a TD? I suppose if he would have done a double ore row boat I would have got it!
Posted by: Lonnie at November 1, 2005 11:01 AMAdd Rashad to #5. I loved it that he just tossed the ball to the ref. Better than any spike, like, "It's my job and it's easy!"
Posted by: Sammy at November 1, 2005 11:08 AMPayton handing it to his O-linmen to spike is the best.
And I understand the desire not to talk Vikes. I'm done with them for the year. For the first time in years, I turned the last game off well before halftime. I won't be tuning in for kickoff next week.
Posted by: ss at November 1, 2005 06:26 PMAll wrong. Number 1 all-time, Cris Carter. Score, go down to one knee and raise a hand to thank God, then go and thank his O-line. Pure class and grace.
Posted by: Trevor at November 1, 2005 10:07 PMMy personal favorite was when T.O. scored against the cowboys in Texas stadium, then went to the star in the middle of the field and pointed skyward. I think he did this twice and the second time was knocked on his ass by a pissed off cowboy player. Hating the cowboys as I do, I thought this was my all-time favorite!
Posted by: Scott at November 2, 2005 04:56 PM