Drake London scored the winning touchdown for the Atlanta Falcons on “Monday Night Football” in Week 2. He would later regret what he did.
While celebrating with his teammates, the Falcons wide receiver mimed firing a machine gun into the air, earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that turned the extra point attempt into a 48-yard kick. That was significant given that London’s seven-yard reception from Kirk Cousins had just tied the game at 21-21 with less than a minute left against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fortunately for London and the Falcons, kicker Younghoe Koo converted the extra point to take the lead in a 22-21 victory. It was an impressive touchdown by London, who froze Eagles cornerback Darius Slay and gained multiple yards of separation in the end zone with the game on the line.
However, London’s celebration was unfortunate in another sense, as its team… had hosted the Apalachee High School football team from Georgia on FridayA week earlier, a mass shooting in Apalachee killed two students and two teachers.
On Wednesday, London said he regretted not being more sensitive to gun violence and said he would never celebrate with machine guns again. via ESPN:
“It’s a trend in football right now to do those kinds of celebrations,” London told ESPN. “It was my first Monday Night Football game. I got a little lost. I wasn’t happy with the position I put my team in.”
“There’s a lot of things in the world related to gun violence that I don’t think I should have put out there,” London said. “So I’m not very happy about that and you’re probably not going to see that from me again.”
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris initially defended London, saying: There is speculation that London was pretending to throw shirts into the stands.but He changed course on Wednesday while speaking to reporters.:
“Drake was a celebration that you don’t want to happen because of the violence that happens in our country and we are very sensitive about it, but he had no ill will or intention and it is a mistake on all of our parts that those things come to light with what is happening in our country and not being sensitive to those situations which we definitely are.
“We’re here hosting the school where the violence happened and we’re very sensitive to all of those things and how they happen to us and we care. It was just Drake having fun with his fan base and his people in the stands. We don’t think about that stuff too much right now, so we have to be sensitive to all of those things. We definitely are here at the Falcons.”
London, the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft, came into this season with elevated expectations after two solid seasons with the Falcons, largely due to the addition of Cousins following some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL.
In two games, London has recorded eight receptions on 10 attempts for 69 yards and a touchdown. The Falcons are 1-1 and will play the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday in Week 3.