To win in college football, you’ve got to know when to run, pass, punt, and when not to act as if you were a dog urinating in the end zone.
One Ole Miss football player (not named here because his bid for attention should not be rewarded) lost his team a game versus rival Mississippi State in this year’s Egg Bowl, the annual rivalry matchup in the Magnolia State.
A stirring comeback drive ended in said player’s touchdown with four seconds left in the game. It brought the Rebels within a single point of the rival Bulldogs and seemingly set up an extra-point attempt to tie the game. But the receiver, after scoring the touchdown, got on all fours, crawled to the back of the end zone, and mocked the Bulldogs by lifting one leg, as if relieving himself.
Naturally, this drew a penalty, forcing his team’s extra-point attempt 15 yards farther back. The kicker missed, resulting in a 1-point loss.
Setting aside the inaptness of rubbing a touchdown in an opponent’s face when one’s team is still losing, this wasn’t even an original act of crassness. Indeed, this was the second time an Ole Miss player had pulled this stunt. Just two years ago, another Rebel player did the same thing to Mississippi State, drawing a penalty then, too.
What’s most remarkable is that this isn’t so out of the ordinary. NFL teams have become constitutionally incapable of securing a turnover without the entire defensive squad running to the opposing end zone and posing like superheroes. Baseball players prance down the baseline, mocking the opposing pitcher with their bats, after hitting home runs. And, back in the game of football, post-play cheap shots and punches are commonplace no matter how badly the misbehavior’s inevitable punishment harms the team’s chances of winning.
