Draft
Round
-
TBT: The celebration that broke the internet
2017 was known around the Canadian Football League as the year of the catch.
Every week we witnessed incredible grabs from the likes of Duron Carter, S.J. Green and Bryan Burnham, just to name a few.
However, some could argue that 2017 was also the year of the celebration. (Myself included)
As the season went on, the touchdown celebrations got better and more creative. We saw players propose to goal posts, dance in a conga line and show off their best Mortal Kombat special moves.
But one celly stood out above the rest: The Ottawa REDBLACKS limbo celebration.
Eastern Semi-Final – Diontae Spencer Touchdown
Kick Return, Touchdown, LIMBO CELLY! 💃💃💃💃WOW Ottawa REDBLACKS Diontae Spencer!
Posted by CFL on Sunday, November 12, 2017
Diontae Spencer, the self-proclaimed Celly King, told me at Mark’s CFL Week that the viral sensation that broke the internet was actually his own idea.
The team came up with three or four different celebrations at practice that they were planning on using when they scored against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the Eastern Semi-Final. After all, the Riders were known for their imaginative celebrations, so Ottawa wanted to be prepared to match them.
“Going into that week, we were playing Sask and I was like, ‘they’ve been having celebrations,’” remembered Spencer. “We were at practice and we had maybe like, four or five of us (thinking of some).”
After that day’s on field work, Spencer sat down with CFL host Brodie Lawson for a Facebook live video and told her, “We have a lot of celebrations in the tool box.. It’s one of them that we just feel like is going to go viral.”
And just like he predicted, it was everywhere.
While the limbo garnered attention from media outlets all across the continent, it also sparked interest from NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were known south of the border for their post-touchdown creativity, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I had a person, one of my friends plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers,” said Spencer. “Le’Veon Bell and JuJu Smith-Schuster, they’re always doing celebrations. So, when they saw that one (the limbo) he (my friend) hit me up and was like, ‘bro, JuJu and Le’Veon were like, ‘we don’t know if we could top that.’ And then a guy from the Buccaneers was like, ‘we thought of that but they beat us to it.’”
Former NFL receiver Terrell Owens gave props to Spencer and his squad on Instagram, posting the video on his feed as well as sending the REDBLACKS receiver a personal direct message.
With possibly the best celebration in football last season behind them, now Spencer and the REDBLACKS will have to figure out how to top it this season.
“I don’t know,” he laughed when asked how they’re going to do one better in 2018. “I don’t know.”
