NFL touchdown celebrations are back to being interesting again, and with them, the world of television (and video games) is getting some love from players. Specifically, NFL star and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster gave all '90s anime fans a dose of nostalgia when he went all Dragon Ball Z when celebrating a touchdown. Take a look, and continue reading below:
Most Dragon Ball Z fans don't need an explanation, but for any curious NFL fans looking at this clip clueless as to what this has to do with a Japanese anime, that was a Kamehameha, the signature move of the Turtle School, and one that Master Roshi taught to DBZ main hero Goku back in the original Dragon Ball anime. Since then, Goku has used the move to destroy many opponents, and as anime fans know, him using it is about as common as Pikachu using a Thundershock attack in Pokemon.
Some viewers likely thought that JuJu Smith-Schuster was mimicking the "Hadoken" move popularized by the Street Fighter video game series' Ryu. (Or Ken or Akuma or Oni, if you wish.) But speculation on that front was made irrelevant when the wide receiver took to social media to celebrate.
As seen in the animated video below, the move involves positioning the hands together and back and near the hip, and charging energy to push forward a massive ki blast towards your opponent. JuJu Smith-Schuster likely would've gotten a flag had he launched his Kamehameha in the direction of any Baltimore Ravens players, so he can be forgiven for not fully committing to taking the enemy down in his touchdown celebration. Hopefully he was at least screaming, as it never seems like any special move in Dragon Ball Z can be accomplished successfully without plenty of that:
Dragon Ball Z-related celebrations aren't something often seen in the NFL, but with more of the current players growing up during the years when Cartoon Network would air its Toonami _anime block on Saturdays (and various other times throughout the week), it's possible more specified pop culture celebrations like these could be on the way. Granted, it'll be pretty hard to top this one, unless someone can drop a Death Note on the field or perhaps perform some _Naruto-level ninjutsu.
For those that saw JuJu Smith-Schuster's celebration and now have a need to see the classic anime again, or for the first time, Cartoon Network runs old abridged episodes of Dragon Ball Z on Saturday night, as well as the new series Dragon Ball Super, which airs during Toonami. For more on Dragon Ball Z, check out some info regarding their new fighting game, or about how the writer of Dragonball Evolution is sorry for his script. And, of course, you can catch NFL games on Sundays, Monday nights and Thursday nights, all across the TV grid.
For a list of fall programming chock full of awesome shows worth watching, visit our fall premiere guide.
