The Lions score lots of TDs and love celebrating them: 'They like to push the boundaries'

DETROIT — Believe it or not, there’s a burden that comes with being the NFL’s best offense. The Detroit Lions are learning that now. Each game presents an opportunity to put paint on canvas. There’s an art to what they’re doing. With that comes certain expectations, certain standards to uphold. It’s a different kind of pressure.

All eyes are on them. And their celebrations.

“We’re just trying to bring some more excitement besides the touchdowns to the game,” WR Jameson Williams told The Athletic.

Since the 2022 season, no team has scored more touchdowns than the Detroit Lions. They lead the league with 157, 12 more than the next closest team in that span. They’re on pace to set numerous franchise records — much of which were set last year by this same group. Through 11 games this season, the Lions have averaged a league-leading 32.7 points per game, which would rank 12th all-time in NFL history over the course of a full season.

When you’re scoring as much as they are, you need to come ready to celebrate. That’s never an issue for this bunch. Everyone knows what to expect when the ball crosses the plane.

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“I tried to share them a celebration,” Lions OC Ben Johnson said last week. “They haven’t done it yet. That’s hopefully coming down the pipe at some point. I’m on St. Brown about that. He’s the guru.”

Guru. Ringleader. Whatever title you want to give him, Amon-Ra St. Brown will humbly accept what’s bestowed upon him. Over the last two seasons, St. Brown is tied for the league in touchdown receptions with 19. He is the braintrust behind some of the Lions’ most viral celebrations, and the man responsible for organizing them among his teammates.

If you know St. Brown, this is, of course, unsurprising. We’re talking about a guy whose party trick is reciting every receiver drafted ahead of him from memory. He operates life with those 16 chips on his shoulder. Nobody believed he’d have this kind of success in the NFL — a two-time Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro before his 25th birthday — except him. There’s a reason he’s the way he is, and why he’s as good as he is.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t trying to score every game,” St. Brown said recently, after scoring a touchdown in his eighth consecutive game. “I think every receiver’s trying to score every game.”

True. But what separates St. Brown is that he sees everything, and wants you to see him. He participated in his first Lambeau Leap last year, and blew a kiss to the crowd after the win. He once used Jaire Alexander’s celebration against him in a game, right in his face, then did it again.

A troll with an eye for celebrations, St. Brown and the end zone are a match made in heaven.

“I’m pretty sure he always practices his at home,” Penei Sewell said of St. Brown’s celebrations. “He’s well-prepared for his.”

The ideas often materialize out of thin air, without much rhyme or reason. Sometimes, they’re planned days in advance. Sometimes, inspiration can strike the night before a game and make its way to an end zone near you on Sundays. And sometimes, it’s as simple as doing what you feel in the moment.

But best believe St. Brown and these Lions are gonna get a celly off. The rabbit hole goes deep, with no shortage of options.

On a Saturday heading into an NFC North game against the Green Bay Packers earlier this month, St. Brown watched a clip of Incarnate Word WR Jalen Walthall doing a headstand after scoring a touchdown. Walthall told “SportsCenter” the celebration was an ode to a move shown in the film “Stomp the Yard.” Who knew a movie released 17 years ago would be the indirect source of one of St. Brown’s numerous celebrations?

As the clip picked up steam, St. Brown didn’t let many in on his plans. However, he did tell teammate Jahmyr Gibbs that he would hit the headstand if he scored the next day.

He did. There is now a bobblehead of the celebration available for purchase.

Amon-Ra St. Brown had no doubt the headstand celebration would be a hit. (Junfu Han / Imagn Images)

“As a kid, I just remember doing headstands,” St. Brown told reporters after the game. “… I would do those as a kid, so, I knew it wasn’t gonna be too hard. I saw the clip on my phone and I was like, ‘All right, I’m doing it tomorrow.’ And sure enough when I scored, I did it. Once I did it, I knew it was gonna look pretty cool.”

Another one that made the rounds came in a Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Leading up to the game, popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat went live with Colorado star Travis Hunter. Cenat had a celebration suggestion for Hunter, suggesting he get on all fours and walk like a dog around the end zone. Hunter obliged, then re-enacted it after Colorado’s overtime win over Baylor this season.

It caught St. Brown’s attention. He tried to one-up it.

If St. Brown is the main character, Gibbs takes home the award for best supporting actor. They have as close a friendship as you’ll find on the team, often posting up at each other’s locker during the week and sending each other videos of celebrations they see for approval before they try it themselves.

“We’ll watch something or we’ll go on TikTok and try and find sh–,” said Gibbs, a man of few words.

Amid a 52-6 dismantling of the Jacksonville Jaguars two weeks ago, those two, alongside RB David Montgomery, unveiled a Dragon Ball Z-inspired celly — executed to perfection.

This past Sunday against the Colts, Gibbs had an idea for the running backs and anyone else who wanted to join to wear throwback NBA jerseys on the team’s flight to Indianapolis. Gibbs wore Allen Iverson’s No. 3 76ers jersey. The next day, he and St. Brown recreated arguably his most famous on-court moment — a crossover baseline jumper, before stepping over Lakers guard Tyronn Lue.

Naturally, the idea matched the fit pic.

“I thought about last night,” Gibbs said after the game. “I didn’t tell him until, actually, when he first got here. I told him in the locker room.”

The wild card of the group, to the surprise of absolutely no one, is Jameson Williams. The best way to describe Williams is that he’s somehow everyone’s little brother — even guys younger than him. He plays football as an adult the same way he did when he first put on pads as a 6-year-old in St. Louis. It’s how he was taught to play the game by his youth league coach, Cory Patterson — who’s now coaching WRs at Purdue.

“The way he taught us how to play the game is just to have fun,” Williams said. “We was out there, he’ll tell us to celebrate. When Terrell Owens did the popcorn celebration, he had us do that in little league. So, like, he just used to instill that into us to just have fun in the game.”

You can tell by the way he celebrates. His first NFL touchdown was a 41-yard pitch-and-catch. Williams proceeded to bounce around Ford Field like a toddler who ate too much sugar before bed.

These days, Williams isn’t a stranger to the end zone. Now that he’s a regular in the lineup, he can plan out his end-zone moves ahead of time. Earlier this season, as Lions legend Calvin Johnson was inducted into the franchise’s ring of honor, Williams honored him by re-enacting Johnson’s famous goal-post dunk — just barely sneaking it through the uprights. He was fined for it, but it was worth it. Last week, the Lions gifted Williams with a framed photo of his dunk, autographed by none other than Johnson himself.

What separates Williams from others on the team is that you never know how many celebrations you’re gonna get. They can range from one to four on a given touchdown — maybe even five if he’s really feeling himself after a score. That is, if he remembers everything in his head upon arrival.

“I got a lot, but you know, when you in a game and you score, you actually forget,” Williams said, giggling. “So it’s kind of hard. Somebody has to come remind me.”

This happened recently in a game. After scoring a 64-yard touchdown vs. the Jaguars, Williams was supposed to unveil a rehearsed celebration with Montgomery. The two made plans to get on a knee and shoot dice in the end zone. However, the celebration had to wait a week. Williams decided to pay homage to Marshawn Lynch instead. He was fined again.

His teammates are used to him marching to the beat of his own drum.

“I see him catch it and as soon as I see the safety take the wrong angle or he’s out of position, I knew it was a touchdown,” St. Brown said of Williams’ touchdown vs. the Jaguars. “So I’ll just meet him in the end zone, let him do his celebration, I’ll wait like five minutes until he’s done and then we’ll celebrate together.”

But rest assured, Williams and Montgomery eventually got the dice celebration off the call sheet, after Montgomery scored a 6-yard touchdown this past Sunday vs. the Colts.

“I think me and Jamo will get fined today,” Montgomery said after the win over the Colts, “But I’m excited for that fine.”

Again, you never quite know where the inspiration for a celebration will come from heading into the week. Players will text to coordinate if they have a strong idea in mind, but it typically only involves a couple of guys at a time. The exception to that would be one of the more memorable scores of the year, taking place on “Sunday Night Football” vs. the Houston Texans earlier this month.

As the story goes, Williams was scrolling social media when he saw an entire team run into the end zone, lay flat on their stomachs and kick their feet. He sent it to St. Brown, St. Brown created a group chat to send out the bat signal, tight end Sam LaPorta scored and the rest is Lions history.

Williams wasn’t even on the field for the play. But he felt it was only right for him to join in on the fun, so he sprinted over from the sideline.

“I’m the one who came up with it,” Williams said. “I swear I am. I sent it to the wide receiver group chat before the game. I said, ‘We gotta do this.’ I said, ‘Tell everybody.’ Because it’s real video of some people playing, like, seven-on-seven football, but they whole team, like, everybody cleared the sideline. Like, it was 30, 40 people on the field doing that. I was really on the sideline during the touchdown, but once I seen somebody off the sideline run onto the field, I’m like, ‘I’m going, too.’ ”

“For the Texans game, I did create a quick one with some linemen, Jared, tight ends, some receivers, just to spread the word that when we score the first down, we’re doing that celebration,” St. Brown explained. “Jamo is right. Jamo came up with that one. … He said, ‘Saint, you gotta tell everyone to do it, they gonna listen to you.’ I said bet I’ll send it.”

Ahead of a Thanksgiving matchup against the Bears, St. Brown, Gibbs and Williams have already been plotting potential celebrations. It’s another nationally televised game for them to showcase their, uh, artistic vision.

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If there’s any franchise that deserves to celebrate its successes, it’s the Detroit Lions. No longer a basement dweller, the Lions look like one of the NFL’s elites. They’re tied for the best record in football at 10-1 — achieving that mark for the first time since 1934. They’ve won nine games in a row. They own the league’s best-point differential, its best-scoring offense and its second-best scoring defense. A complete football team from top to bottom.

Of course, the Lions know what really matters is how they finish the season. That test begins in January. The ultimate celebration is the one that takes place on Sunday, Feb. 9 in New Orleans, as confetti falls from the skies and players are forever etched in history.

But the journey is worth celebrating, too.

“I tell our guys, ‘Hey, as long as you don’t cost us 15,’ I’m good with whatever they do,” Dan Campbell said, when asked about the celebrations this week. “They have fun with it, they are creative, they like to push the boundaries — whatever those are, and they are. I know our guys have fun with it and I think that’s important. They enjoy it. … I’m glad they have a good time with it.”

(Top photo of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)



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