Football is back. Well, pre-season is back, anyway, and with it comes the renaissance of the touchdown celebration. Combining elements of dance, mime and theater, this act of choreographed exultation was once celebrated as an art form. If, however, your team had just given up the touchdown, it was then of course unaccepatbly immature, self-indulgent and disrespectful. The latter view took hold in 2006 when the NFL began assessing a 15-yard penalty to any team judged guilty of "excessive celebration." Fans missed these creative displays, leading to the joke that "NFL" stood for the "no fun league." Without completely admitting it was wrong, the league softened its stance in 2017 to allow for most reasonable displays of exuberance. Overly long and/or offensive celebrations, plus anything involving the goalposts, can still incur penalties. Now, a new generation of players is learning to express itself within these parameters. At yesterday's pre-season game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos, we saw a novel incarnation of this modified modern art form. After a slow start, Denver scored the first touchdown of the 2019 season. Atlanta then struck back with a one-yard pass from Kurt Benkert to wide receiver Ben Hill. Upon scoring the equalizer, Hill, wearing number 23, spins the football on the ground like a top. Perhaps inspired by the spin, fellow wide receiver Christian Blake then challenges Hill to a spirited game of air table tennis. Blake, sporting the number 13, emerges from off camera to match Hill stroke-for-stroke as they mime vicious forehand topspin shots. As the rally reaches its crescendo, Blake goes for the kill. His simulated smash is so powerful, it sends Hill sprawling to the turf. According to the new rules, this spirited performance art is perfectly acceptable, and the fans clearly delighted in the creative outburst. (Well, Atlanta's fans did, anyway.) Ultimately, Denver would go on to get the last laugh, starting their 2019 campaign with a 14-10 victory. The Falcons, however, are thus far undefeated in the celebration game.

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