How I spent my weekend before Thanksgiving break: wake up, chug coffee, research, eat, research, scurry to the Grill for more coffee, research, sleep for a few hours, wake up, chug, write fifteen pages. I did not smile once. When I got the paper back, and looked at my high grade, I stepped into the hallway and pumped my fist. On my walk back to Bryan Hall, I bubbled into laughter without meaning to.

NFL football players share similar experiences.

Picture this: You’re a wide receiver in the NFL. Your rib cage is still sore from the full-speed hit you received from a linebacker a month ago, and you walk with a limp because a 300-pound lineman fell on your ankle.

But you still play.

In a game in the snow, you sprint hard for ten yards and catch a pass from your quarterback. After you rip through a tackle, juke to dodge a lineman, and sprint past the secondary, you can see that your hard work has paid off.

As you cruise into the end zone, something crawls up from inside you that needs to be let out. You try to suppress It – like laughter at an inside joke in class – but you can’t.

Unfortunately for some NFL players, their inability to suppress their touchdown celebrations leads to a depression in their wallets.

The NFL fines players for coordinating team celebrations, and fine individual players if they use a prop in their celebration. But with their multi-million dollar contracts, most players can afford to have a little fun in the endzone.

“What I’ve planned for today will get me fined when I score,” said Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals prior to Dec. 5’s game against Detroit.

Ochocinco, number 85, changed his last name from Johnson to Ochocinco after the league fined him $5,000 for putting a Velcro slab that read “Ochocinco” on his jersey after a touchdown in 2006.

Ochocinco did score against Detroit, and continued with his Spanish theme by prowling the sideline in a poncho and a sombrero afterwards. He will be fined.

Other illegal celebrations include Joe Horn of the Saints hiding a cell phone under the field goal padding, scoring, and then pretending to call someone. Also, Terrell Owens once pulled a Sharpie out of his sock in the end zone and autographed the football.

Yes, these celebrations are excessive, but so are some of ours. I could not contain my laughter after getting my paper back. All the happiness I lost writing the paper found me.

In the same way, Owens cannot contain his arrogance, and Ochocinco cannot contain his attention-seeking creativity. Eliminating these celebrations would be eliminating self-expression.