DeShone Kizer apologizes for misunderstood arm-flapping celebration

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — DeShone Kizer grew up a massive Philadelphia Eagles fan, so when he got in the end zone twice Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field, he realized a childhood dream built on watching Donovan McNabb.

What the redshirt freshman didn’t realize, though, was how his arm-flapping celebration — frequently done by Eagles players — would be taken the wrong way given Notre Dame was playing the Temple Owls.

“At the end of the day, it's immature by me to do anything in the end zone,” Kizer said. “That reflects on myself and my team. I apologize for that. Moving forward, guys understand the slightest movement out there can be taken in any way. I need to make sure I think out my decisions before I make them on the field.”

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Kizer’s Eagles fandom wasn’t revealed until he tweeted Sunday that he was a longtime fan of Philadelphia’s NFL franchise, but by then, the Internet had moved on from wondering why a player from one of college football’s historic powers was taunting lowly Temple in the midst of the Owls’ best season in decades, maybe ever. The headline on SB Nation was “Notre Dame QB taunts Temple by flapping wings like an owl after 2 different TDs,” with the following paragraph under it:

So, to recap: A player from Notre Dame, a program drenched in tradition that has played in countless games bigger than tonight's, felt the need to talk some junk at Temple, a team that has never been good and is literally playing its first big game ever. Got it.

The point here is even if Kizer’s intentions weren’t malicious, the arm-flapping was easily perceived as a, pardon the pun, fowl display.

“Totally unacceptable,” coach Brian Kelly said of Kizer’s celebration. “Totally unacceptable. It's not what we're about. It's not who we are.

"DeShone understands that. … It's not who we are as a team or as a program. It won't happen again.”

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Welcome to life as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, where anything the least bit controversial will land you in national headlines and create buzz on Twitter. It was a lesson learned for Kizer, who at the time was oblivious to how his celebration would be received.

“Not till I was back home did I know it was an issue,” Kizer said. “I was out there trying to have some fun. I had an opportunity to live out a dream. Emotions got the best of me. If I ever knew it was going to lead to what it's starting to lead to, I would have never even considered doing anything like that.”

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