Celebrating TDs excessively will be costly this season

When University of Hawaii linebacker Aaron Brown returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown against New Mexico State last season, he did the last chunk in the air, diving into the end zone.

The fourth-quarter score put an exclamation point on a 59-24 victory that gave the Warriors a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship. That it carried an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on the ensuing kick mattered little.

But this year a repeat could be a lot more painful under a new rule that would wipe out the score and cause the ball to be placed at the 19-yard line, according to Jim Blackwood, supervisor of WAC football officials.

The play is featured on a 15-minute instructional video, compiled by Blackwood, that was shown at a meeting for football officials over the weekend, he said.

Among the rule changes for 2011, the one with the most game-changing potential will be the enforcement of excessive celebration, officials said. Such infractions will be treated as live-ball penalties and assessed at the spot of the foul instead of on the kickoff.

Blackwood said saluting after a touchdown will be permitted provided it is directed at the scoring team’s bench or fans, not the opposition, and is not protracted or appears "choreographed."

"We want to let the players have their exuberance and their excitement, but we don’t want it to get to the point where they are showboating," Blackwood said.

When Brown was penalized last season, he said "I thought somebody was behind me. (Teammates) will back me up on that."

But Blackwood said players who look behind them at an opponent and then dive will be flagged. Players who dive without looking or gesturing at their opponents are unlikely to be flagged if someone is in close pursuit.

Blackwood said Brown looked back at his pursuit and "left his feet" at the 4-yard line.