Today, I had a couple good ideas for an Atlanta Falcons memory, but after the Vernon trade, I scrapped all of that to bring you this. One of Vernon finer moments in stupidity.
Let me bring you up to speed: Jimmy Graham started a new tradition of 'dunking' the ball through the goal posts, due to his basketball history (Fooch's update: Forgot about Tony Gonzalez!). After that became a thing, the celebration infected other teams to become a variation on basketball with players doing their own dunks, lay-ups, etc. Michael Crabtree, for instance, did a layup in the 2012 divisional game against the Saints.
Well, enter 2012, Week 1. The dunk was popular among tight ends and our own Vernon Davis had to show he can't jump. The celebration messed up his ankle something special, putting him on the injury report for a week or two and ending any aspirations of any future dunks. On later Vernon touchdowns, he adopted a jump shot where he did something similar to a free throw into the uprights. Given how he learned he can't dunk, the celebration's background makes the actual act real funny.
The NFL didn't like the fact that players were deciding not to dunk on their own and eventually ruled dunking as merits for unsportsmanlike conduct along with all other basketball moves. You know, because they have to have the final say in decisions of all football kind and they don't want anyone even thinking of another sport.
I'd still like to see someone sacrifice 15 yards for a dunk. You know, those made the game fun to watch. Especially when its an epic fail like Vernon's. Hopefully after a big catch from Manning Sunday, we may see him just say "To Hell with it" and put one right through the uprights.