Stefon Diggs scored his first touchdown with the Washington Commanders.
Then he received his first costly penalty.
The former Buffalo Bills wide receiver caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels in the fourth quarter of Washington's 24-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Diggs went over the middle, made the catch and braced for contact as he crossed the goal line.
Nobody touched him.
So he found something that would.
Diggs dropped the football, ran toward the goalpost and leaped with his arms outstretched. He slammed into the post, wrapped his arms and legs around it and hung there before letting go and falling onto his back.
The referee standing next to him had already thrown the flag.
Diggs was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike
conduct, turning a celebration into a potentially costly mistake.
first as a Commander 🤩
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 13, 2026
📺 #WASvsPHI FOX pic.twitter.com/BFX7I2XBpb
Washington trailed 17-15 after the touchdown with 9:59 remaining. Commanders coach Dan Quinn said they planned to attempt a 2-point conversion to tie the game, but Diggs' penalty pushed them back 15 yards.
Washington kicked the extra point instead and remained behind 17-16.
Diggs had an explanation afterward.
"As soon as I wrapped my arms around it I like, 'Oh, I forgot,'" Diggs said. "Back in the day, I've been playing for a long time. You used to be able to do that. Update on the rules. That just tells me I've been in the game a long time. I've got to be better."
There's a problem with that explanation: Diggs never played in those days.
Stef Diggs takes full accountability for the penalty. Said it was just a heat of the moment celebration. He forgot the rule had changed from early in his career pic.twitter.com/h62uVv66E8
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) September 14, 2026
The NFL outlawed using the goalpost as a prop before the 2014 season. Diggs entered the NFL in 2015.
There's an even bigger problem: Diggs has done this before.
He was penalized and fined for hugging a goalpost while playing for the Minnesota Vikings in 2017.
Diggs took responsibility for the mistake after the game. He said the celebration came from frustration after the Commanders struggled to get their offense going.
Diggs finished with four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown but also had two drops.
"That was out of the frustration throughout the game," Diggs said. "I take full accountability. I want to win bad."
Daniels even tried to take some of the blame.
The Commanders quarterback said he should have reminded everyone in the huddle that Washington planned to attempt a 2-point conversion if it scored and couldn't afford a penalty.
Diggs wasn't letting his quarterback take the fall.
He called Daniels accepting responsibility "quarterback s---" and said that as a veteran player, he should have known better.
"There's a time and place for everything."
— ESPN (@espn) September 14, 2026
—Jayden Daniels on Stefon Diggs getting a penalty for celebrating in the Commanders' Week 1 loss to the Eagles.
(📺 FOX) pic.twitter.com/UYTaQtRkPv
Washington still got another chance.
Daniels threw a touchdown pass with 1:01 remaining to cut Philadelphia's lead to 24-22, but the Commanders failed on the ensuing 2-point conversion and lost by two.
Diggs' earlier penalty didn't directly cost Washington the game. It did cost the Commanders their first chance to tie it.
All for a hug with an old friend he should have remembered was off limits.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Stefon Diggs forgot an NFL rule he'd already been penalized for breaking
