Bengals getting ready for revised celebration rules in 2017

The NFL finally received the message and has relaxed its rules on in-game player celebrations. The league will now allow players to use the ball as a prop, celebrate on the ground and engage in group celebrations.

The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t discussed any specific plans quite yet, but once they hit the field, we should expect some exciting dance moves from our favorite players.

“Nobody’s talked about it yet, but once we start getting close to the preseason games, guys will start talking about let’s do this or let’s do that, coming up with handshakes or dances or whatever,” wide receiver Tyler Boyd told Jay Morrison of Dayton Daily News.

Of course, Jeremy Hill has been one of the more well-known Bengals to celebrate his touchdowns in exciting ways. In his first three years in the league he has been quite the showman, but more importantly, he has always worked within the rules and never been flagged due to a celebration.

“Right now we’re so focused on getting better that we haven’t even talked about it at all,” Hill told Dayton Daily News. “I’m sure there will probably be some antics or something like that. I’m always in favor of fun and entertaining the fans who have paid a lot of money to come out to see us. The new rule was definitely something I was glad to see.”

Of course not every player is planning their next great celebration.

“More times than not I probably won’t celebrate,” tight end Tyler Eifert said. “It’s not my style really. I’m just happy to have scored a touchdown. But if someone has something they want to do…”

Eifert (whose go-to celebration is usually a spike) and A.J. Green aren’t all too likely to participate too much with these celebrations, but maybe they can do a handshake or something with a teammate to celebrate a score.

In the spirit of this rule change here are five celebrations we’d like to see the Bengals pull off this season.

GOALLLLL!

In honor of the new professional Cincinnati soccer team, FC Cincinnati, the football team should show some support following a touchdown. The player who scored could set the ball on the ground like a penalty kick, and another player could stand in front of him like a goalie. The scoring player could kick it gently past him and run off the field like a soccer player with his arms spread out wide.

Any callback to Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson

It’s no secret to Cincinnati fans that Chad Johnson spent almost as much time celebrating as he spent being one of the best receivers of his era. He built up quite the portfolio of celebrations including the river dance, putting the football and many many more.

The Bengals could theoretically do sort of a medley of his dances. Maybe three players get together and do a couple at once. It’d be nice to honor that era of the Bengals considering it is the team’s 50th anniversary.

Greatest show on turf cliche

I’ll put the over/under for the upcoming season of the amount the greatest show on turf celebrations by any team at 10. It is probably the most famous group celebration of all time. Back When Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce and Marshall Faulk were dominating the NFL, the players would gather around after a touchdown and the scoring player would spin the ball, with the rest of them all dancing around it. They called it the Bob and weave.

Some people criticized it for being to show boaty, but it was actually a great bonding experience for those players to share that spotlight with each other. It really helps breed the idea “we don’t care who scores as long as we score.”

Track star

I doubt John Ross will play into this, but maybe another teammate will do it to poke fun at the receiver. The scoring player could do a faux 40-yard dash. It would especially be relevant if the scoring player scored on a play where he blew by the defense.

Obviously, this is a nod to Ross who broke the 40-yard dash record at the NFL Combine before the Bengals used the ninth overall pick to select him.

Let’s just hope the Bengals get plenty of chances to try out these and whatever celebrations they dream up this season.