New York Jets

Johnson says gesture not a taunt

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Keyshawn Johnson realizes why the throat-slashing gesture banned by the NFL can be perceived as taunting.

However, he says he runs his hand across his throat as a form of celebration, similar to an end zone dance.

''Every player in every locker room understands that gesture,'' he said Wednesday. ''It's like you're saying, 'You can't stop me' or 'In your face.'

''I don't read the rulebook, but if it's a taunt, and that's in there, you probably should be penalized.''

The NFL, in the wake of players such as Johnson, Ricky Watters and Brett Favre making the gesture, sent a letter to all 31 teams stressing that the throat-cutting move would draw hefty fines and penalties. Favre was fined $2,500 and the Packers received a 15-yard penalty when he did it against Detroit on Sunday.

Johnson made the gesture after a score at New England on Nov. 15. On Tuesday, the NFL outlawed the gesture.

A Boston radio station linked Johnson's cutting motion to O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in the murder trial of his estranged wife and her friend.

''I didn't have a knife in my hands. Slashing a throat?'' Johnson said. ''It's not an issue. Who's making it an issue?''
''To say it's like O.J. and slashing a throat is reaching for something,'' he added. ''What's Juice have to do with anything except he was one of the best running backs in NFL history? Maybe there is a connection in their mind, but not in my mind.''

Johnson calls the ban by commissioner Paul Tagliabue the latest action by an image-conscious league.

''Tagliabue has to do what he has to do,'' Johnson said. ''They made rules when we danced or when we snatched our helmets off.''

Johnson noted that such a gesture could be misconstrued.

''If you dig deep into it, you probably could send the wrong message to kids,'' he said. ''But does screaming at players and owners send the wrong message to kids? If you get into these nickel-and-dime things it can become an issue, I guess. It becomes more of an issue than it should be. Everybody in the media wants to run with it.

''So the league says, 'Don't do it anymore,' and it'll just stop.''

Several Pittsburgh Steelers players, meanwhile, think the ban hurts the game's spontaneity.

''It's silly, really, because players are just showing their emotions,'' linebacker Levon Kirkland said. ''I guess they just want us to clap after a play.''

Defensive lineman Orpheus Roye is the only Steelers player who has been seen making the gesture.

''This is an entertainment business, and I know a lot of little kids look up to us, but they watch wrestling, too,'' safety Lee Flowers said. ''Wrestling is a multibillion-dollar business and they're not getting fined.''

Seattle coach Mike Holmgren applauds the NFL ban. One of his players, Ricky Watters, made the gesture after a 45-yard run in Kansas City last Sunday.

''We're not going to do that anymore,'' Holmgren said. ''That is taunting and it's really a negative thing. ... If it's going to cost the guys a lot of money, it's going to stop.''

Holmgren says the taunting comes from a small number of players.

''I just wish we could eliminate things that put a damper on that,'' he said. ''The greatest players I've been around - the Barry Sanders, the Jerry Rices - they don't do those kinds of things.''

Warren Sapp, the Buccaneers' star defensive tackle, faces Seattle on Sunday. He plans to abide by the NFL's new edict.

''This is the No Fun League and we can't have any fun,'' Sapp said. ''This is like any other rule in the world. You have to live by it.''