sack dance

n. (originally) in American football, a showy celebratory dance performed after the take-down of a ball-carrying quarterback; (hence) especially in competitive events, demonstrative movements or gestures by a person in a (self-perceived) advantageous position. Subjects: English, Football, Sports & Recreation

Editorial Note: The sack dance takes many forms, including jigs, whirling, capering, leaping, strutting, prancing, air-pumping, hip-thrusting, or the miming of sexual acts. In the early 1980s New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau became well-known for his sack dances, which were banned by the National Football League in 1984 but continued in other sports and contexts.

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Citations: 1982 Scott Ostler Los Angeles Times (Dec. 16) “A Short Look at All the News” p. 13: I’m tired of seeing 300-pound defenders crash into 150-pound quarterbacks from the blind side, while the quarterback is unloading the ball and defenseless, and then the defender gets up and does a choreographed five-minute Indian sack dance. 1983 Alan Greenberg Los Angeles Times (Jan. 30) “Dolphins-Redskins: No Frills, No Names; Give It an Asterisk” p. 14: These are similar-style, blue-collar teams loaded with unsung heroes who don’t do sack dance or shaving commercials. 1983 Gerald Eskenazi New York Times (Oct. 3) “New Jets More Flamboyant”: [Mark] Gastineau, an emotional sort, has had his highs and lows. In the exhibition season he believed he finally was accepted by his teammates for his whirling dance. He remarked, after looking at game films with other players, that they seemed to back him in his sack dance. 1990 Tulsa World (Okla.) (Sept. 18) “‘Boogying’ Hurricanes Ripped” (in Miami, Fla.) p. B2: Hill sprinted away from the scene of his first six catches to raise his arms before the angry crowd; and Barrow and Armstead did a fourth-quarter sack dance Saturday that included flailing arm gestures some fans found vulgar. 1990 Jeff Millar Houston Chronicle (Texas) (Oct. 25) “A backlog of careful musings” p. 2: One day I came home to see, amid the rotted boards the contractor removed and was replacing, the bent carcasses of the gutters. After I was confident that no one could see me, I did an atavistic little sack dance around them. 1990 [Dennis Richards Montgomery] Usenet: rec.sport.football.pro (Dec. 20) “Re: Unnecessary Celebration”: I thought Mark Gastineau’s “sack dance” broght the rule for over-celebration. As for the “end-zone celebration” penalty…a Washington-Dallas game at Irving triggered the rule. 1992 P.J. O'Rourke Give War a Chance (Apr.) p. 13: It made me want to do a little sack dance right there in the Cold War end zone. 1996 Gordon Dillow Orange County Register (California) (Dec. 15) “Hate To Rain On Your Snotty Parade, Seattle” p. B1: What prompts this verbal sack dance over the sodden, prostrate corpus of Seattle is the release last week of the new “Places Rated Almanac.”…Naturally, Orange County rated No. 1. And The Soggy City, a former No. 1 titleholder, is now a humiliating No. 2. 2000 Tim Rosaforte Raising the Bar (Apr.) p. 29 @ (Apr. 23, 2002): He fired his caddy, fired his manager, reworked his golf swing, changed balls,…decided it was better to low-key it than to do a sack dance. 2000 [Karen Horn] Usenet: rec.arts.theatre.musicals (Dec. 15) “Re: OT: Three cheers for Gore and Bush”: Well, they both “did what they had to.” Doesn’t mean Al didn’t go home and kick the cat, or George didn’t do a sack dance off screen. They both came out ahead on it by being fairly low key. 2001 Stefan Fatsis Word Freak (July 7) p. 126 @ (July 30, 2002): Who could begrudge the Joelgernaut a celebratory sack dance? 2001 [Fred Stone] Usenet: alt.atheism (Oct. 25) “Re: OT: Beer is Good for You…”: Does a happy sack dance….I’m a Bad Ass Brewer With Attitude! Yeah! 2004 Jason Wilde @ Green Bay Capital Times & Wisconsin State Journal (Dec. 14) “Barnett’s Antics Annoy Sherman” p. C3: Barnett was criticized by television announcers for doing his samurai sack dance with the Packers trailing Philadelphia by 35 points.

Posted 18 Nov 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend