Deion Sanders has message for Washington State's Marcus Strong after taunting penalty

Tom Gatto

Deion Sanders has message for Washington State's Marcus Strong after taunting penalty image

Washington State defensive back Marcus Strong made a prime-time play against Iowa State in Friday night's Alamo Bowl. Unfortunately for him, he celebrated the play prematurely and was called for taunting. The penalty turned a pick-six into just a long interception return.

In the end, Strong's penalty didn't cost the Cougars, who scored a touchdown on the ensuing offensive series, and it even gained Strong a fan.

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Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, an authority on celebrating before reaching the end zone, was watching the play. To no one's surprise, he was Team Strong:

Sanders returned nine interceptions for touchdowns during his NFL career, and each of those returns included some type of celebration.

UPDATE: Strong and the Cougars held on for a 28-26 victory.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.