Keegan-Michael Key thinks he owes Rico Dowdle an apology.
Key reacted after Dowdle was flagged for doing a famous celebration inspired by a “Key & Peele” sketch. In the sketch, the fictional Hingle McCringleberry is not flagged for doing two pelvic thrusts after a touchdown, but gets hit with a penalty for the third.
Dowdle mimicked the celebration after scoring a touchdown on Sunday, but the Carolina Panthers running back was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct even though he only pumped twice (video here). That prompted a response from Key on social media.
“Rico, man, you got robbed,” Key said in a video posted to Instagram. “You only did two pumps. I’m sorry, man. Now I’m gonna have to write a new sketch.”
Obviously, the sketch was never meant to be an actual interpretation of NFL celebration rules, but it’s pretty funny anyway. Unfortunately for Dowdle, there is precedent for two pumps being sufficient for NFL discipline.
Dowdle’s penalty wound up backing the Panthers up on the ensuing extra point attempt, which wound up being missed. The Panthers were able pull out a 16-13 win anyway thanks to a late field goal.
