On Sunday night, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer celebrated the game-clinching touchdown against the Seahawks with a crotch-chop move that is commonly known more lewdly as the “suck it” maneuver.
On Thursday, Palmer explained that he didn’t do the move to taunt Seattle fans, but as a message to friends of his that were in attendance at the game.
“I had my buddies in the sideline, right four or five rows up,” Palmer said, via John Weinfuss of ESPN.com. “I saw them pretty excited and [that] got me excited to see them excited.”
Carson’s brother, former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer, vouched for Carson’s intentions.
“The last thing Carson Palmer would ever do was taunt an opposing fan,” Jordan Palmer said. “It’s a joke.”
But the intent of the gesture may not matter, given the rules. Fines can be imposed for any type of unsportsmanlike conduct, and the prohibition includes, among other things, taunting and sexually suggestive gestures. Even if Palmer wasn’t taunting Seattle fans, the crotch-chop move has a sexual connotation to it. And the gesture, caught by NBC cameras, was sent out over the public airwaves into millions of homes.
It’s unknown for now whether Palmer was fined. It’s possible he has received notification of the fine, but that he hasn’t disclosed it yet. Typically, the NFL provides player-by-play fine information on request every Friday afternoon.
