Chuck Cecil's Middle Finger Gesture Caught On Tape! (VIDEO)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Titans defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil expressed his anger at officials during Tennessee's game with Denver with an obscene gesture Sunday.

Television cameras caught Cecil using his right hand to make the gesture when officials flagged his defense for a neutral zone infraction during the second quarter. The penalty gave Denver first-and-goal, and Kyle Orton tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass on the next play for a 7-0 lead.

Cecil declined comment after the game, a 26-20 loss by the Titans despite a season-high six sacks. But they also finished the game flagged 10 times for a season-high 111 yards.

Last year, Titans owner Bud Adams was fined $250,000 by the NFL for making the same gesture. Adams made the gesture repeatedly from his owner's box and on the field celebrating a win over Buffalo in November.

Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan didn't see Cecil's gesture but called it awesome.

"I'll let him answer how he feels about that. He's an emotional guy. We rally behind him, and he's been great to us. We've got to go out and execute his game plan and fly around. You've seen that the first four games. We respect him, and we thank him for that," Finnegan said.

If Cecil is fined, Finnegan expects his teammates will help out their coordinator.

"I know all the guys won't mind chipping in for our defensive coordinator," Finnegan said.

UPDATE: Cecil was fined $40,000.

WATCH:

Comments

[moany46]

10:06 AM on 10/05/2010

It's a finger, people. jeeze. I'm sure many other coaches and/or fans have been thinking middle finger and not showing middle finger. The refs have been horrible this year. They have taken over games and pretty are deciding who wins. So don't give me this holier than thou attitude.. Middle finger...please. I've seen worse on AFV on abc. The refs need to back to ref school and relearn the trade. Until then, they will get the middle finger because they deserve the middle finger.

[TeeSC]

01:31 PM on 10/06/2010

Yeah but then where does it stop?  It's rude, vulgar and disrespectful.  You don't like the officials?  Submit a formal complaint.  You think the NFL isn't going to respond if enough people make an issue of it?  Thinking is one thing... showing is another. 

[carnitine]

03:24 AM on 10/05/2010

Would he have been fined if he stuck his pinky at them or givin the peace sign? Seems silly that if he just waved his hands in digust at him he wouldn't get fined but it's the same meaning as the middle finger. They just didnt want to pay him, Corporations always find ways to not pay employees

[rikster]

08:33 PM on 10/04/2010

good for him...the refs have determined the outcome of too many games for the last few seasons..some of the calls are very questionable and quite unreasonable while many real violations are ignored. they flaunt and bend the rules in mysterious ways....I don;t blame him.

[joeblow]

07:55 PM on 10/04/2010

Very classy fellow, that Chuck Cecil. Let us hope that America's children were watching. There is, you know, a shortage of role models. Though, in fairness to him, he might have simply been checking wind direction to share with the kicker.

[Big0725]

07:46 PM on 10/04/2010

Yet again the headliner writers at HP are off. On the Sports page the headline says "An NFL coordinator". Chuck Cecil doesn't work for the NFL, he works for a franchise in the NFL.

[OneTop]

03:53 PM on 10/05/2010

Yet the NFL can fine him, suspend him and or even ban him from working within the League from what I understand.

Perhaps I'm wrong ?

[VolsFans]

04:18 PM on 10/04/2010

Jeff Fisher is on the Rules Board for the NFL. He's also the Head coach of the Titans. The Titans have the most personal fouls, most fouls and a rep as a dirty team. As a former Titans fan, as of this past Sunday, I'm one that is beginning to say the Titans need a new head coach. They play like thugs and have the skills of a Div AAA College team. I'm no longer impressed and willing for a change.

Oh wait, Bud Adams, the owner of the Titans, was fined 250k for the exact same thing. Go figure eh..

[Wes Blackwood]

05:34 PM on 10/04/2010

I would have to say I'm more of a fan now, I like seeing some passion out of the coaches. The Titans aren't dirty, they're physical. Football is a man's game and that's the way they play it. If their physicality draws a few penalties, so be it. Fisher is a top 10 coach in anybody's book and they have more skill than several other NFL teams.

[Mark Montgomery]

07:51 PM on 10/05/2010

"Fisher is a top 10 coach in anybody's book and they have more skill than several other NFL teams."

Except for the Broncos. HA! HA HA! HA!

[Jangocat]

03:41 PM on 10/04/2010

What I find ironic is the National Felon League is ok with letting a sadistic convicted felon like Mike Vick represent their league, but they get all up in arms about a coach flipping the officials the bird. Hypocrites. Character is more important then ratings or winning games...

[mujer-lg]

04:51 PM on 10/04/2010

They really have nothing to do with each other. Being unprofessional on one side, having a guy in the league who served his time and has paid his dues judged by society (no matter how wrong you think the sentence was) on the other. Apples/Oranges.

[Big0725]

07:48 PM on 10/04/2010

Go soak your head and then get lathered up about things that matter.

Michael Vick has paid his debt to society.

[Mystic01]

03:16 PM on 10/04/2010

That coach did what millions of sports fans would like to do, and in fact do, to NFL refs and MLB umpires.

[RasputinsLiver]

02:56 PM on 10/04/2010

Should fine him a huge chucnk and ban him from a few games.

[TSRVT]

02:46 PM on 10/04/2010

What a class act. Fine him 50K and make it come from HIS paycheck. What a creep.

[Mencken Today]

02:11 PM on 10/04/2010

Both the NFL and NCAA should make a rule that this type of behavior or abusive insults are grounds for a coaching staff to be thrown out of the game with a corresponding fine. It happens in baseball, why not football?

These coaches should all be held to a higher standard...

[Sam Wooton]

02:00 PM on 10/04/2010

The ref should be happy he earned only the finger with the questionable calls he had been making.

[Michael Owens]

01:53 PM on 10/04/2010

Hell it made me laugh...

[BobSacomano]

01:52 PM on 10/04/2010

We need more of this kind of stuff. Bring back the end zone celebrations, the fist fights, name calling and cheap shots - this is football people, the way the Oakland Raiders used to play it.

Fans don't come to see a PC love-fest, they want action, you know, the same way NASCAR fans actually come to see the crashes and hockey fans hope for a slug-fest..

[bart4u]

01:38 PM on 10/04/2010

Great example for kids. Fine should come out of his own pocket. Not everyone agrees with a ref but you have to show respect or there would not be games played. He is a idiot.