Tom Keegan: Start letting players show emotion

Fueled by adrenaline, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiele Elliott didn’t put the brakes on once he crossed the goal line. He didn’t even slow down when he ran through the end zone. He didn’t stop, in fact, until he had jumped into a giant Salvation Army kettle stationed near the edge of the stands.

In so doing, Elliott sparked an outpouring of generosity. Salvation Army reports that donations were up 61 percent in the days following the celebration that typically would draw a fine for the player, but in this case didn’t.

Elliott donated $21,000 to the Salvation Army and encouraged others to pony up, tweeting that, “Your $21 feeds a family for 3 days.”

Now it’s on the NFL to call more attention to the coolest sports moment of the holiday season and do it in a way that gives the Salvation Army a more prominent place on everybody’s mind. It’s on the NFL to get rid of the absurd rule that penalizes excessive celebration with flags and fines.

Call it “The Zeke Kettle Leap” rule change because that’s what he’s calling the move that painted the NFL in brighter colors. See if Elliott would be up for taping a commercial ringing a bell and asking for donations from viewers of every NFL game from now until infinity and beyond, plus two. You know Elliott, the coolest Santa Claus of this Christmas season, would be up for it.

I’ve never understood the NFL penalizing players for celebrating their accomplishments. The sport requires playing through so much pain and when a player does something exceptional he then has to repress his excitement?

If excessive celebration bothers players on the wrong end of touchdowns, they have means of dealing with that and they have memories. It might even fuel the scored-upon player or team to even the score on the scoreboard.

In football, the helmet hides a player’s face and in turn closes a window to his personality. Lifting the ban on celebrating lifts the curtain and allows the public a peek into players’ personalities.

Roughly 40 years ago, Billy White Shoes Johnson, phenomenal punt return man for the Houston Oilers, celebrated his touchdowns by doing the “funky chicken dance.” In 1988, Cincinnati Bengals shifty power back Ickey Woods invented “The Ickey Shuffle,” a dance so clumsy anybody could do it and most of the fans did.

And then there was Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield, worshiped by those who favor athletes who act as if they’ve been there before. Warfield had been there 85 times for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins before retiring and looked almost bored as he flipped the football to the referee after racking up another six points.

Such rule changes no doubt require meetings and votes, etc. So call an emergency one via conference call, make the change, drive Elliott to the nearest TV studio, film the commercial, and watch Salvation Army donations make those kettles jingle up a storm.

Come on, NFL, at least until engineers build robots that are so lifelike they replace human football players, let the athletes express themselves after they ease the pain with plays at which millions marvel while stuffing their faces in front of television sets.