By Ron Johnson
Cameraman Gets Penalized for…Touchdown Prop?
There’s a reason why many of us called the NFL the ‘No Fun League,’ and yesterday, they showed us why. During a week six game between the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill scored a touchdown. As part of his touchdown celebration, he grabbed the phone of one of the cameramen in an effort to complete his celebration. Apparently, the NFL is still steamed about the whole Joe Horn fiasco from 15 years ago.
Since the NFL is all about handing out suspensions at random, I figured I should request a suspension…of them. How can you punish a cameraman for something he didn’t know was going to happen. His job on that field is to be on scene videographer for all the antics and action. But while the NFL suspended the cameraman, identified as Kevin Fitzgibbons, for the remainder of the season and possibly for good, Hill was not fined like Horn was with his celebration.
Fitz and Hill are friends outside the field and have been since Hill was traded to the Dolphins last year. For the NFL to punish one but not the other explains why most people get turned off by the NFL: Their stupidity. And it does not get any worse than this incident.
I’m pretty sure that once word gets around to other players, team and staff in the league, one of two things is going to happen: Either NFL staff is no longer going to participate in any of the antics, or they are going to boycott and protest any end zone coverage until Fitz gets his job back. This is without a doubt the dumbest decision the NFL has made besides allowing Jerry Jones to still own his team.
