Dan Campbell appears to throw shade at NFL for celebration hypocrisy

The NFL has a hypocritical stance on certain celebrations, and Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell appeared to point it out on Monday.

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell isn’t known for stirring the pot too often. He’s excellent at avoiding controversial topics and handles himself extremely well at the podium. I don’t think it’s fair to say that he slipped on Monday, but we saw a rare moment of him throwing some subtle—and deserved—criticism toward the NFL regarding their celebration policies.

The Lions haven’t shied away from celebrating all season, and they’ve gotten creative doing so. They’ve throw homages to both Allen Iverson and Marshawn Lynch, they’ve tapped “Dragon Ball Z” with a kamehameha celebration, and they’ve gone bowling.

Campbell said he’s got no problem with the players and their celebrations, as long as they aren’t hurting the team.

“I tell our guys, ‘Hey, as long as you don’t cost us 15 (yards).’” Campbell said Monday. “I’m good with whatever they do. So they have fun with it, they are creative, they like to push the boundaries of whatever those are.”

The pushing boundaries part, though, has gotten the Lions into a bit of trouble. Jameson Williams’ crotch grab homage to Lynch earned him a $19,697 fine for an “obscene gesture.” Jahmyr Gibbs’ taunt on his second touchdown against the Colts cost the team 15 yards. And while Campbell knows that’s on the team to abide by the rules, he did acknowledge that the league can be a bit hypocritical about celebrations.

A reporter said the league is letting more celebrations happen, which is a good thing for fans, but Campbell quickly snapped back.

“Well, that depends on what that is, whether the league let’s it happen, right?” Campbell said. “They’ll use whatever they need to (for) the content.”

While Campbell doesn’t expand on those thoughts, it’s not hard to ascertain what he’s talking about. The league may fine and penalize some of these celebrations, but they have no problem using them to promote the league. Case in point: the crotch grab that Williams was fined for? It’s the leading thumbnail in the NFL’s official YouTube highlights from that game:

The league has certainly relaxed some of their celebration policies, but Campbell is right to point out hypocrisy still exists. Regardless, it doesn’t sound like Campbell has any intention on cracking down on his own team’s celebrations.

“I know our guys have fun with it and I think that’s important.”