Early Friday Miami Dolphins’ RB Ronnie Brown and offensive linemen Vernon Carey and Ikechuku Ndukwe were fined $10,000 each for a celebration in the endzone last Sunday after a touchdown against the San Diego Chargers. Welcome to the return of the No Fun League.

As a sports fan in general, and a Dolphins’ fan, this aggrevates me. This is America and people are allowed by our laws the freedom of expression. Taking a step back from the political pulpit though, lets just look at this logically from a sports standpoint. First off, the NFL has seen much worse celebrations in the endzone than 3 guys dancing for 10 seconds. We’ve seen Chad Johnson commandeer television cameras and don a gold “Hall of Fame” like sport coat on the sideline with the words “Hall of Fame 20??”. Three guys dancing in the endzone for 10 seconds isn’t offensive to me, and I would doubt it is to many. How in fact is it any different than a group of teammates celebrating with a hug or high fives in the endzone?

To me, the act of fining these players is an attempt to squash the joy of a team scoring a touchdown. The NFL (No Fun League) handed down the fine because in their written rules they have stated that “coreographed celebrations by 2 or more players” are inappropriate. Considering the endzone was rare territory last season for the Dolphins, these players have every right to get excited with each touchdown they score this season as they try to prove to themselves and the league that they are a team deserving of respect. After all, these guys were 1-15 last year, are they not allowed a little joy in their game? This was not an overly coreographed event, it was three guys dancing for 10 seconds in the endzone.

Perhaps the NFL should spend more time concentrating on what it will do (if anything) to repeat offender Adam Jones, and less time fining guys for a small touchdown celebration. One final note, one of the NFL’s very own referees was right there and walked passed the players as they celebrated, there was NO flag on the play for excessive celebration.