Addressing its most pressing safety concern, the NFL will penalize goalpost dunks

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Addressing its most pressing safety concern, the NFL will penalize goalpost dunks
(Image credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

It was bound to happen, ever since Saints tight end Jimmy Graham tilted the uprights with a celebratory slam, but the NFL made it official today: Starting next season, players will be banned from dunking the football over the goalposts. The NFL already has a rule against using the ball as a prop, and refs will now extend it to cover not only ball-signing charades, but dunks as well.

Tony Gonzalez, who popularized the touchdown dunk, and who retired this offseason, is not pleased:

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.