Media Savvy
Enough Already
By Mike Prisuta

Steelers' president Dan Rooney never wanted the NFL to be known as the "No Fun League," but Rooney admits there is a limit to how much fun NFL players should be having.

It's taken a while, but Rooney - still one of the NFL's most influential figures - knows when enough is enough.

"I'm viewed as a purist, but when they discussed this with the competition committee, I spoke against it," Rooney said. "I said, 'I think you should be allowed to celebrate and do anything within reason and character.'"

This was back when the NFL first began to emphasize a "no taunting" approach - back in the 1970s, when spiking the ball and end zone dances were first starting to get out of hand.

"The guy I really got into a discussion about it with was Paul Brown, and I have to say he was right," Rooney said. "He said, 'It's only going to escalate into doing things that are not okay. You're saying it's okay if a guy's just going to spike the ball and do a couple of funny things. But knowing athletes, it'll be taken out of where it is and the next thing you know they'll be doing things that just shouldn't be part of the game.'"

Paul Brown was a visionary, all right. His worst fears have come to be realized.

Thanks to Joe Horn and his cell phone. Last year it was Terrell Owens and his Sharpie. What's next?

How long before NFL fans, purists and those who just appreciate the game for its entertainment value, become turned off and start tuning out?

"I think it's a serious matter," Rooney said. "I don't think you can let players or anyone make a joke out of the game, and that's what it amounts to. They talk about fun and no fun and all that kind of stuff; I think some of the things, like spiking the ball, even maybe some of the dances, it's fine. Spontaneity is one thing, where you score and you're happy about it and things like that. But this idea of having something pre-planned with a sign or a cell phone, it's way out of line."

It has delivered the NFL to a crossroads, as far as the league's image and popularity are concerned. Suddenly, it's easier than ever to suggest that the inmates are running the asylum, and that the NFL is powerless to control its personnel and what they represent.

Horn and Owens are the poster children for this plague on the game. Horn was fined $30,000, which was as much of a joke as an intended deterrent as Horn's antics were deplorable.

"I would have suspended him and gotten his attention that way," Rooney said.

The inference is that it will take drastic action for the NFL to reverse this most disturbing trend. You can bet this is an issue that will be addressed prior to next season, lest the NFL risk becoming bad television. Or worse yet, the NBA.

"This takes away from the game, and if players don't understand that fans are getting sick and tired of these kinds of antics, they better be worried about fans in the stands," Rooney said. "We see in other sports where they're not there. They're taking a dim view of these kinds of things."

The NFL has no choice but to respond accordingly.

Mike Prisuta writes for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and is the sports director of WDVE-FM.