FOX Sports football rules analyst Dean Blandino recently joined the "Upon Further Review" podcast with host Zach Brook to discuss the NFL's new taunting penalty and other officiating tweaks that fans can expect to see in the upcoming season.
Asked to clear up confusion about how the league plans to police poor sportsmanship, Blandino, a former league official who played a major role in reintroducing instant replay in recent decades, said teams can still celebrate big plays -- so long as it's not targeted at a specific opponent.
"Taunting has always been a foul," Blandino said. "But the point of emphasis is really stuff that's directed at an opponent. You shouldn't confuse this with celebrations -- the stuff in the end zone after a touchdown, when the players get together and they celebrate, that's OK.
"A lot of this is more one-on-one. A lot of this is when you direct something at your opponent -- whether that's verbally, something demonstrative, maybe throwing the football at, or spiking the football at the feet of the defender. That type of thing. That's what I think the league is looking to continue to get out of the game."
There wasn't one particular incident that prompted the crackdown, according to Blandino.
But there was one specific incident in the waning moments of Super Bowl LV, in which Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. threw up the peace sign in the face of Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, that turned heads among many football observers and fans as being especially classless. Winfield was later fined for the stunt.
As it turned out, Winfield was merely returning the favor to Hill, who had a huge game against the Bucs in the regular season, and was sure to let their defensive backs know about it. Hill had flashed his own peace sign at pursuing Bucs defenders, including Winfield, on a long touchdown catch en route to the end zone.
So, it was more accurate to say Winfield was getting even with an old foe rather than randomly antagonizing a vanquished opponent. Winfield was initially unapologetic about settling the old score, but he later had a change of heart, making a donation to a Tampa-area school in the same amount of his fine, and saying he wanted to put a positive spin on something that wasn't meant to be a big deal in the first place.
Still, while the Hill-Winfield incidents seemed like pretty clear-cut cases of taunting, there could be some gray area as to what an official interprets as a celebration as opposed to a provocation.
But Blandino doesn't anticipate it being a frequent issue.
"I think it's inevitable," Blandino said of the referees having to read between the lines. "But again, I think the key thing is, was it directed at the opponent? You intercept a pass, and the whole team runs down to the end zone and they pose for the camera -- that's fine. But if you intercept a pass and the get up in the quarterback's face, or get up in the receiver's face, that's a different issue.
"Most of the time you're going to be able to differentiate between the two. Sometimes the lines are blurred, and there's a little bit of judgement involved, but most of the times you'll be able to figure it out."
Elsewhere, Blandino discusses the new push to get replays done quicker, how certain other penalties will be called differently this season, and what it's like to be pelted with angry tweets from fans when calls go against their team.
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