By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
A spokesman for the NFL said Wednesday that the league has “no issue” with players celebrating big plays and touchdowns with a dance reminiscent of President-elect Donald Trump, which spread throughout the league following his election win.
The dance, popularized by the president-elect at rallies, was first seen years ago when Trump pumped his fists and move them alongside his torso to the “YMCA” song.
Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, said that “there’s no issue with a celebratory dance such as what took place Sunday or the previous week with the 49ers on Nov. 10,” answering a question about whether the league would permit the “Trump dance.”
He then noted that the NFL only fines players for unsportsmanlike conduct such as “prolonged or excessive celebration, any violent gesture or an act that is sexually suggestive or offensive.”
San Francisco 49ers star defensive end Nick Bosa, a noted Trump supporter who was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat days before the election, celebrated a quarterback sack with the dance on Nov. 10. When he was asked after the game about what had inspired it, he told reporters: “I think you know the answer to that question.”
Bosa was fined on Nov. 9 not for the dance, but because he wore a “Make America Great Again” hat after the game. McCarthy said that Bosa received a more than $11,000 fine “for a violation of the NFL uniform and equipment rules for wearing a hat that contained a personal message.”
More players performed the dance on Sunday, Nov. 17, footage shows. Notably, Detroit Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith, Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley, and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers were seen performing it.
Ridley did the dance while celebrating along with teammate Nick Westbrook-Ikhine during Tennessee’s 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Smith and Malcolm Rodriguez performed the dance after a sack in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 52-6 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bowers on Sunday was asked about the dance by a reporter: “I’ve seen everyone do it. I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.” The Raiders then appeared to end Bowers’ media availability after the question and his answer.
He was referring to Jones, the UFC heavyweight champion, also performing the dance after defeating challenger and former champion Stipe Miocic on Saturday night in front of Trump, Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other members of the president-elect’s entourage. Footage also showed Jones presenting his championship belt to Trump, who smiled in return.
Aside from the NFL and UFC, college players have been doing it for weeks and it’s gone international. Players from the English soccer club Barnsley celebrated a goal with the Trump dance.
With weeks to go before the 2024 election, three former Pittsburgh Steelers stars, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace and Le’Veon Bell, appeared alongside Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Brown, meanwhile, has been posting pro-Trump content to his popular X account throughout the campaign.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
