The technician turns to artist in a fraction of a second, the intense glare and calculated steps giving way to unabashed joy.
For some football players, the release of aggression results in a primal scream. For others, a premeditated skit unfolds on the field.
And for the select few, finable gyrations take over.
The sack will forever live in the NFL’s official records, and the sack dance forever emblazoned in the minds of millions watching. The second act is as much a part of the game as the tackle itself, despite the league’s continued efforts to curtail “unsportsmanlike” celebrations.
Broncos linebacker Von Miller knows this. As does his teammate DeMarcus Ware. As do countless other NFL defenders who have turned the sack into an art and the sack dance into the signature scrolled across the bottom of the painting.
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Ware keeps his autograph uniform. Every sack is followed by the “Hulk Smash,” a from former Cowboys safety Keith Davis, who would with fervor each time he sprinted out of the tunnel before the start of a game.
“One day he was like, ‘D-Ware, I’m about to retire, man. You don’t have any sack moves. You need a sack dance. You’ll make it popular,’ ” Ware recalled. “After I started doing it, I got so used to it and it became mine.
“Never going to change it. Sometimes simple is good, right?”
Miller’s celebrations eschew simplicity.
His eccentricity extends from his wardrobe (remember ?) to his dances. His latest, a of a , went viral and earned the praises of his teammates and many fans.
“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe said. “That was a good one.”
It also , made payable to the NFL.
“Yes, we have talked about that,” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said with a grin. “We need to find a new one.”
The penalty for “unsportsmanlike conduct” didn’t keep Miller from mocking the league and its fine system with his “three pumps” as he sprinted out of the tunnel before the start of the Broncos’ victory over the Vikings a week ago. And it didn’t keep him from continuing to press the league’s buttons when he and Ware sacked Teddy Bridgewater in the second quarter.
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His legs in position and his hands behind his head, Miller as if to check for the NFL’s watchful eye before dropping his hands and carrying on.
Just keeping you on your toes, NFL.
The punishment for a play that has been so crucial to the Broncos’ season — they lead the league with 18 sacks — is seemingly a punishment to the act of defending itself.
Or so the players say.
“It’s hard to come by, so if you get a sack you should be able to pretty much do whatever,” Broncos linebacker Shaquil Barrett said. “You probably have a little censorship in your dances. So (Von) probably should have done two pumps and not three.”
The league’s censorship, however, stretches back more than 30 years. It wasn’t until 1982, the year Ware was born, that the league first began to credit defenders for quarterback sacks. Two years later, players were banned from celebrating them.
Before Miller, before Ware, before Michael Strahan and before Bruce Smith there was Mark Gastineau, a member of the Jets’ “New York Sack Exchange” defensive line as he poured into each sack. His signature shimmy was gaudy. It was excessive. It was in-your-face. It led to fights.
And his dance, in part, led the league to outlaw them.
Informally it instituted The Gastineau Rule. Formally it was , which NFL owners passed in March 1984: No “prolonged, excessive, or premeditated celebration by individual players or groups of players.”
Over the years, the banned celebrations after sacks have been detailed to a laughable degree, with the NFL’s reins on growing tighter with each rule change. No props. No dancing on the ground. No “throat slash; machine-gun salute; sexually suggestive gestures; prolonged gyrations; or stomping on a team logo.” And no “sack dances; home run swing; incredible hulk; spiking the ball; spinning the ball; throwing or shoving the ball; pointing; pointing the ball; verbal taunting; military salute; standing over an opponent (prolonged and with provocation); or dancing.”
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The rules, enforced subjectively and inconsistently to touchdown and sack celebrations, have seemed to only encourage more creative moves. The fist-pumps and screams have given way to choreographed dances, such as Jared Odrick’s ” ” and J.J. Watt’s .
The threat of a double fine, handed out to repeat offenders, kept Miller from performing another explicit dance last Sunday. But, perhaps, only temporarily. The league, try as it might, cannot thwart that split-second when the sack master turns to sack artist.
And it cannot stop Miller from dancing. Few can.
“I’m going to save that ($23,000) for big time,” Miller said. “Them pumps are expensive. I’m saving that for a big-time sack.”
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or @NickiJhabvala
