Scoring a touchdown in the most popular game in the United States with 113 million people watching calls for a celebration.  NFL (National Football League) players compete in the biggest entertainment event and show their moves anytime they score with stylish dances. 

  According to nytimes.com, Elmo Wright was believed to have created the first touchdown dance. He threw the football down in the endzone and was the first person to do a “spike,” which is when a player slams the football really hard on the endzone.

  Since then, touchdown dances have taken off and almost all players do a celebration when they score. Recently, the “Griddy” (a little skip dance where you swing your arms) was a popular dance done by Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson, and it is widely known now with people replicating it all around America.

 “It went everywhere,” junior Thomas Eppard said. “Everyone was doing the ‘Griddy.’ My grandpa was even doing it. ‘Griddy’ down the hallway, ‘Griddy’ to the nursing home, everyone was going crazy.” 

  During the Super Bowl, players expressed themselves with amusing and entertaining dances. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce did a “Stanky Leg” (a little leg wiggle) when scoring an 18-yard touchdown pass from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. 

“It was funny, a great celebration, and I really liked it.” junior Connor Downey said.

  The “Stanky Leg” has even traveled all the way to our town with football players such as Landon Wilson, Dyzier Carter, and Savion Hiter doing it on the field. 

  While fans love the dances that players do, the NFL frowns upon most celebrations and players have received costly fines. The NFL doesn’t approve of dances that are inappropriate or choreographed. According to Gobankingrates.com, Cincinnati Bengals Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson was estimated to have fines of up to $30,000 dollars for just one dance. Johnson was reported by the NFL to have set aside $100,000 dollars for fines during the season to step up his celebrations.  

  While some dances are looked at as excessive, celebrations aren’t going anywhere because players and fans love them. 

‘That’s ok,” Johnson said. “They keep jacking [the fines] up, I will keep jacking up the celebrations.”