The National Football League has outlawed the "nose wipe" as a celebration. On March 26, ESPN NFL analyst Ben Solak made an X post revealing, "According to the full rules report sent to NFL teams this week, the 'nose wipe' celebration is now a 15-yard penalty for being a 'violent gesture.'" The change was announced along with a slew of rule additions and amendments enacted at the NFL's annual league meetings.
The screenshot Solak shares highlighted Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(d) of the NFL rulebook, which states, "Any violent gesture, which shall include but not be limited to a throat slash, simulating firing or brandishing a gun, or using the 'nose wipe' gesture, or an act that is sexually suggestive or offensive."
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An NFL representative told Rolling Stone that the rule was enacted by the NFL's 10-member competition committee, comprising NFL head coaches and team executives. The committee releases an annual "state of the game" report, and this year's report included a section on sportsmanship. The representative shared the committee report, which stated "that sportsmanship in the NFL is an area that must be re-emphasized. Taunting, baiting, disrespecting opponents and officials, and other actions that may engender ill will between teams have no place in our game. Further, the committee strongly believes that violent gestures or sexually suggestive or offensive actions, which are also prohibited by rule, must not be tolerated." The nose-wipe gesture was banned alongside "actions including, but not limited to, a throat-slash gesture, simulating firing or brandishing a gun."
The nose wipe was spotlighted during the YSL trial, when Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia surmised that the gesture, where someone swipes their index finger under their nose as if they were scratching or wiping something from it, was a sign of affiliation to Young Slime Life, which they claim is a Blood-affiliated gang run by Young Thug.
The phrase "wipe your nose" has become common parlance in hip-hop. In 2019, media outlet Genius produced a video noting that while NLE Choppa and YoungBoy Never Broke Again use the term and gesture, it was first popularized by Young Thug. On 2021's "What's Next," Drake rapped, "He thought he was sick, now he wipin' his nose."
The YSL indictment contained a slew of lyrics which prosecutors used to propose that YSL is a violent gang, including the following bars from Thug's 2014 track "Eww:" "Honestly, truth be told, YSL won't fold, pick his ass off from the balcony … YSL wipe a nigga nose." On 2019's "Sup Mate," Thug rapped, "wipe his nose (pussy ass nigga)." On the single "Do It Like," featuring Future, the two rhyme, "We'll come wipe your nose" on the chorus. Thug has never explicitly stated what the term or gesture meant, but Fulton County prosecutors believe that it's slang for committing violence against someone.
During the YSL trial, a prosecutor interrogated co-defendant Antonio "Mounk Tounk" Sledge about the gesture and asked him to do it in court. He first replied, "I'd prefer not to wipe my nose, my nose not itchin'," before later doing it. When she asked if he'd ever done the gesture as a YSL member, he said "I don't recall."
Thug's lawyer Brian Steel pushed back against the criminalization of "wipe your nose," showing an in-court montage of athletes such as LeBron James, Stefon Diggs, and CeeDee Lamb doing the sign. Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowler Lamb, who frequently does the nose-wipe celebration, replied to Solak's X post, noting, "smh, i have plenty in mind😒." Last September, Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill did the nose wipe , proclaimed "free Cheetah" (referring to him being detained by police before the game), and said "Slatt," another term that Fulton County prosecutors claim is gang-related.
At another juncture of the YSL trial, Steel asked YSL co-defendant Trontavious Stephens if there was anything "sinister" about the term; Stephens said no. Stephens claimed that he and his YSL partners did the gesture to signify that "your weed's loud." But despite Steel's defense, it appears that the NFL agrees with Fulton County's criminalization of "wiping your nose."
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