Houston Texans rookie cornerback AJ Bouye recorded an interception during his team’s final preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, and he decided to go bold with his celebration. The undrafted free agent channeled his inner Terrell Owens, standing on the star in the middle of the Cowboys’ field and raising his arms in the air. This did not please the home team.
“That’s just stupid,” Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee said, via The Dallas Morning News. “I understand having fun, but you know me, I don’t like to celebrate too much. I like to worry about winning football games and moving on to the next play. I guess there is fun in having fun out there, but at some point I think that’s doing a bit much.”
A photo of the celebration can be seen here. Bouye had every right to be excited as a player who was hoping to showcase his skills and make the 53-man roster, but he was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the stunt. That’s not going to impress the Texans’ coaching staff, and it certainly didn’t impress Dez Bryant.
“He’s got to understand that this is nothing to get excited about,” Bryant said, per ESPNDallas.com. “It didn’t count. It’s preseason. This is preseason. I’m not trying to bust his bubble, but it’s the truth. It’s just preseason.”
Bouye must have gotten an earful for showboating, because he expressed regret over his decision after the game.
“I wasn’t thinking, I was being stupid,” he said. “It was disrespectful for me to do it, for the team and the other team. I wasn’t thinking. … They don’t’ teach us to do that. For me to even do that was disrespectful.”
Coaches would always rather see a player let his game do the talking, and that is especially true for an undrafted free agent who is just trying to make the team. Not a wise decision.
