How Canadian Seattle Seahawk Luke Willson celebrates TDs
Tight end of LaSalle, Ont., came up with the celebration while watching soccer in 2011
Every NFL player, including Seattle Seahawks tight end Luke Willson, has a dreamed of celebrating at least one touchdown their career.
In his first two seasons, the LaSalle, Ont., product has done so five times, including once this post-season. During last week’s NFC Championship game, he also caught an incredible two-point conversion.
So how does a Canadian kid, from small-town Ontario celebrate an NFL touchdown? With outstretched arms and a primal scream in an homage to soccer legend Wayne Rooney, of course.
Every time he scores, Willson, 25, violently spikes the ball, arches his back, throws his head back and rips his arms apart, basking in the glory of the moment in this sort of professional wrestling pose.
Willson said the celebration dawned on him in college when he was watching soccer with his roommates at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
The game between Man U and Manchester City in 2001 saw Rooney score a go-ahead goal on a bicycle kick. The soccer star celebrated looking skyward with his arms outstretched, basking in the glory of the goal.
“I was watching that with my roommates and we were laughing and going nuts and I said, ‘The next time I score, I’m doing that,’” Willson told Steve Kelley of Seahawks.com. “Then we all kind of had a pact, where whenever we scored at Rice we would do something similar to Rooney’s celebration.”
Willson's former teammate Tanyan Farley recently told the Rice Owls sports department about the birth of the celebration.
As proof, Willson tweeted out a photo of the celebration that inspired him.
Willson’s still celebrating the same way today in the NFL, including touchdowns against ...
The San Francisco 49ers in 2013 ...
The Carolina Panthers in 2014 ...
The Arizona Cardinals in 2014 ...
And the Carolina Panthers in the 2015 postseason.
All told, Willson has four regular season touchdowns and one in the playoffs.
Willson and his Seahawks play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1 in Arizona.