Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown avoided an unsportsmanlike conduct flag last Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs despite pulling out a pelvic thrust celebration following a touchdown. Apparently, as he found out later, he walked right up to the line but did not cross it.
In the latest episode of “The St. Brown Bros Podcast,” Amon-Ra revealed that he had been told by wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El that he had been one pump away from a flag.
“I hit it, boom, no flag, I get to the sideline, sit down, celebrate, boom. And then my receiver coach is like ‘Hey St., one more time and they said were gonna throw the flag.’ I’m like, ‘It’s done now, I got it off. Ain’t no more pumps,'” St. Brown recalled, via Mike Payton of A to Z Sports. “Apparently the ref told our head coach that if he does one more pump, then we’ll throw the flag, and then he told our receiver coach and he told me.”
St. Brown is hardly the first to do this sort of celebration, which was previously parodied in a “Key & Peele” sketch and mimicked by players afterward. The idea that referees are actually counting the pumps was a joke, but at least in this instance, it was apparently very real.
St. Brown has not been fined over the celebration, though that theoretically could still change. If he is fined, maybe he will get some help paying it off.
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