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

(Image credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

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:

Fans, too, have in general agreed that the change is just another example of the NFL acting like the "No Fun League." And that's true: The change is silly and pointless, and it takes away some degree of excitement from the game. But I'm more bummed that the NFL is spending its time debating whether dunks are bad for the game and not, say, whether it could do more to protect players from head injuries. Bummed, but not surprised.

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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.

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