Instead of a thousand words, the picture of Justin Davis celebrating Saturday broke a thousand taboos about sports celebrations.

After Minnesota United FC dispatched Fort Lauderdale 3-0 in a North American Soccer League game, the Loons captain went to the sideline and chugged a cider beer with a raucous supporters group at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Davis knows his act wasn’t politically correct, but he just wanted to have some harmless fun with the True North Elite group in the stadium’s south end.

“If they hand me a beer, I’m not going to not drink it,” Davis said, with a smirk. “That’s our thing now. If we keep winning, I’ll keep doing it.”

United teammate Brent Kallman joked about how much Davis truly consumed. “I don’t know if he was drinking it; he was putting it all over his face,” Kallman said.

It all began last year when teammates told Davis that if he netted a goal, the defender should immediately have a drink in the stadium’s beer garden in the north end.

When Davis scored against Indy Eleven on Sept. 2, he signaled to fans in the garden that he wanted a slurp. He found a willing fan, hopped up on the retaining wall, sipped and spilled a fan’s Strongbow.

“We thought it was the coolest thing ever,” said Nicholas Bisbee, a co-founder of True North Elite, one of the supporters groups that make soccer special. “We wrote a song about it; it’s his song.”

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Davis, one of United’s best and longest-tenured players, then made it tradition by having a drink with TNE after two other home matches near the end of last season. Before Saturday’s match, TNE had a Strongbow from the concession stand set aside post-match for Davis, who has played more than 12,270 minutes in Minnesota since they were the Stars in 2011.

“Those guys are awesome,” Davis said. “They are a new supporters group with the Dark Clouds. They are the more edgy, X-rated fans, so I think they’ve taken a liking to me, and I reciprocate it back. It’s always fun to jump into their group afterwards.”

United coach Carl Craig did the opposite of reprimanding Davis, an integral player who has signed a long-term contract with United to make the jump from the NASL to Major League Soccer as soon as next season. The NASL has not fined or otherwise disciplined Davis, either.

“I’m jealous; it should have been me,” said Craig, who earned also earned his first home win Saturday. “I just learned about that on Monday morning. It’s good fun. Whilst that never exists with the teams in MLS and their fancy stadiums … there are things right now that create that little connection or help keep the connection between the fans and the players. I think the longer you hold onto that type of thing, the better.”

Craig believes authentic camaraderie between fans and clubs has been evaporating in pro sports arenas.

“You talk about big money and big stars and heavy investment, lots of money, and putting these guys on a pedestal,” said Craig, a native Brit, in his Geordie accent. “They are just ordinary blokes, you know, and for the lads to recognize that these people work hard for their livings and pay to come to watch us, you got to have that connection.”