November 4, 2009

Tom Bergeron
Yahoo! Sports

Ashburn (Va.) Broad Run High star running back T.J. Peeler is awaiting word on his appeal to play in the school's first-round game on Nov. 20.

All because he celebrated touchdowns in his team's game against Potomac Falls by jumping and bumping his chest with a teammate.

Can it really be that simple? Not surprisingly, the participants involved say it isn't.

Dennis Hall, the longtime commissioner of the Northern Virginia Football Officials Association, said the issue is about sportsmanship.

"Everyone thinks this is over a chest bump," he said. "The penalty was for excessive celebration and drawing attention to himself."

But where do you draw the line?

Broad Run coach Matt Burnett isn't sure.

"We've always thought that as long as we have a brief celebration with each other in the end zone, that's okay. Now, we have to re-evaluate that. It's a little sad that it has come to that but, at the same time, clearly this is a learning moment for T.J. too. Maybe he did some things that brought too much attention to himself and, I think, hopefully, we can all learn something from it."

Peeler's problem is that he was guilty of the infraction twice in the game. According to Virginia High School League rules, two penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct bring an ejection from that game plus the suspension of the team's next game.

Since Broad Run, a defending state champion, has finished its regular season, Peeler suspension would be for the team's playoff game. The loss of Peeler, a top back who will play at Pitt next year, would be a big blow for Broad Run.

Does that punishment fit the crime? That's what Hall along with the principals of Broad Run and Potomac Falls will determine.

Hall, who was not at the game but has seen since the game film countless times, says there's no disputing Peeler's actions on his second score crossed the line of good sportsmanship. The first one appears up for debate.

If the three can reach a consensus on whether Peeler should be suspended, their ruling will stand. If they can't, the appeal will go to a five-member VHSL panel to decide. A decision is expected this week.

Trying to determine what's celebrating and what's taunting doesn't figure to go away any time soon.

The Virginia High School League has made it a priority this season, according to VHSL spokesman Mike McCall.

"That point of emphasis came from the National Federation of State High School Associations this year," he said. "There is a point of emphasis about celebration, taunting and all those acts that happen in the course of a game that exhibit poor sportsmanship.

"The officials are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. ... They follow the rules as they see them. It's really an eye of the beholder thing in this case. Is that excessive? Did he taunt? Did he going beyond the line of simply high-fiving and running to the sideline?"

Good luck getting a handle on this. The NFL and the NCAA have been battling this problem for decades.

From the "Sack Dance" by Mark Gastineau to "The Ickey Shuffle" by the Ickey Woods to just about anything done by Terrell Owens, the NFL has tried to stay one step ahead.

Hall, who has been officiating high school football games for 38 years, has seen the impact those acts have had - even as the NFL and NCAA have acted to eliminate them.

"The problem is Saturday and Sunday," he said. "What they see on college football and professional football they copy. That's the way society is."

Burnett said he and his staff take taunting seriously and work to avoid it.

"We always teach our kids, after a score, to sprint into the end zone, celebrate with each other, then get off the field," he said. "Never choreographed.

"Enjoy the moment with each other, don't talk to the other team, don't look at the other team and get off the field. That's where it gets tricky when something like this happens and our kids look at it and are not sure what they did wrong, so this has to be a teaching moment."

Hall, who has been officiating games for 38 years, wants to be clear: He's not against celebrating big moments.

"If it's a spontaneous celebration, there's nothing wrong with that," he said. "No one is trying to take that out of the game. If it's demeaning to the other team, that doesn't belong there."

It's not, Hall said, what high school sports is about.

"High school football is based on sportsmanship," he said. "That's the goal of the federation, which I think is the goal of the game.

"The Virginia High School League has done everything they can to promote (sportsmanship). We've (the Officials Association) done everything we can do to promote it. We harp on sportsmanship."

Hall feels the emphasis is working. Through clinics and talks with players, he has seen an improvement in sportsmanship - especially when it comes to self-promotion and taunting.

He just doesn't understand why it needed to be said in the first place.

"You don't want one team to say look how good we are and how good you aren't," he said. "You settle it on the field."

Whether Peeler will get that chance in the playoffs remains to be seen.