Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs scored a touchdown on Thursday Night Football against the Carolina Panthers and caught some attention.
The 28-year-old missed the first six weeks of the season while on the commissioner's exempt list. Jacobs, who faced two misdemeanor charges stemming from a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend in May, is still the subject of an ongoing NFL investigation.
After recording a touchdown in his second game since returning to play, Jacobs celebrated the scoring drive with his arms behind his back in a way that resembled handcuffs. The running back was arrested following a domestic disturbance at his home earlier this year.
During postgame media availability, he explained why:
"Basically, last week, we said
the first celebration, when I score, I was going to thank God -- that's what I did last week," Jacobs said. "The second one was going to be Break Every Chain. It's a gospel song. That was going to be the next celebration. It's just a correlation, but like I said, the media [is] going to run with it. They're going to make it something that it wasn't, but it is what it is."
According to Jacobs, the broadcast "didn't get the whole celebration" and only a moment was captured on TV.
Josh Jacobs explained his celebration after his first TD tonight when he put his hands behind his back.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 30, 2026
He said it was an ode to the gospel song, “Break Every Chain.”
He said the TV cameras didn’t get the whole thing. pic.twitter.com/F65YnLMqwF
If fans take Jacobs at his word and that some necessary context was missing, perhaps additional footage could provide more clarity.
The reality, however, does not exactly make it look any less like he is mimicking handcuffs here:
The full TD celebration in question: https://t.co/jUhME09rjn pic.twitter.com/xMu1702t1f
— Carson Fowler (@CarsonFowlerTV) October 30, 2026
It appears the entire celebration is first miming handcuffs from the back and then getting teammate Savion Williams to assist taking them off from the front for a second time.
Perhaps that is his version of the praise dance popularized by Tasha Cobbs Leonard, but it does not appear the full footage shows anything different than what the national broadcast saw on TV.
Surely there are other celebrations he could have chosen that would have had less stigma attached as something that looked so much like a handcuff following his arrest.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Josh Jacobs' TD celebration full footage proves criticism is justified
