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Sports Most maddening taunting penalties early in 2021 NFL season

Most maddening taunting penalties early in 2021 NFL season

Bills cornerback Levi Wallace was flagged for a taunting penalty this past Sunday in Miami
75756A5E-120A-4932-810C-2FD980DB785E
By Jordan Cohn, Audacy Sports
WGR 550 SportsRadio
Updated on

It's hard to find a take that every single NFL fan will agree on. There are a handful of opinions that 99% of fans will be able to see eye-to-eye on, some of which are (probably) in the following assortment of random takes:

— Christian McCaffrey should have been the No. 1 overall pick in every fantasy football draft
— The Philadelphia Eagles' blue and gold jerseys should probably never have existed
— Justin Fields should probably be the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears going forward
— Bill Belichick and Vince Lombardi are the top-two coaches of all-time, though the order is probably harder to agree on

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You might find one or two fans crazy enough to disagree with those takes, if not more, though there's largely a consensus.

In terms of a take that everyone can agree on without question, it's a lot harder to find... that is, until ESPN NFL insider Field Yates came to the rescue and provided the inspiration for this very article.

There's virtually nothing we can all agree on on this app except that the NFL's new taunting rule STINKS.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 19, 2021

It's the golden opinion that we can all conclusively agree on, with no exceptio— never mind. Turns out there are people who agree with the crackdown. But perhaps if you only look at Twitter, like Yates suggests, you'll find that everyone is on the same page.

PLEASE NFL. THESE TAUNTING PENALTIES ARE RUINING THE GAME. NOT A SINGLE FAN OR PLAYER WANTED THIS CHANGE. IT HAS TO STOP. PLEASE.

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) September 19, 2021

So why not look back at some of the most excruciating instances of taunting that never would have caused us to blink an eye at the past? These aren't all of them, of course, but the ones that drew the most ire from the NFL community.

Why would we do that, you ask?

Because we should either get used to the way things run now, or we should savor these moments before the rule changes again and these taunting penalties are no longer enforced.

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This was called taunting by Levi Wallace... for some reason.

So he followed it by picking off Jacoby Brisset right after.pic.twitter.com/x5L4zRiLU0

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 19, 2021

Levi Wallace - CB - Buffalo Bills

Wallace was called for taunting after he emphatically crossed his arms in front of Miami Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker. After the game, Wallace posted a tweet to his Instagram story — that's some social media inception, right there — and made his thoughts on the matter pretty clear.

Levi Wallace seems displeased with his taunting penalty from yesterday’s game. pic.twitter.com/WBWqDj5MhQ

— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) September 20, 2021

These taunting calls are outrageous. pic.twitter.com/YlejggEkcM

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 19, 2021

D.J. Reed - CB - Seattle Seahawks

Though Reed may have been facing in the general direction of Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown, it didn't look like he was making any mocking gesture directly toward Brown. Instead, it looked like a little fist pump to celebrate getting a big stop, a celebration that many in the stadium may not have even noticed, but the penalty was the same.

lmfao at this stupid taunting rule pic.twitter.com/DQ7lcPfJR9

— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) September 19, 2021

Jordan Akins - TE - Houston Texans

"Spinning the ball in the opponent's bench" is the one action that no one in the NFL should dare to perform, and yet Akins went and crossed that line. How dare he.

That was sarcasm, if you couldn't pick that up. It's pretty ridiculous that something we've seen dozens and dozens of times — the simple act of spinning a football on the ground — resulted in a 15-yard penalty and a negation of Akins' efforts. This one is bad.

Mike Edwards got a taunting penalty for

*checks notes*

Running backwards into the endzone pic.twitter.com/3Njsbq5SYI

— Keaton (@Bogosianorris) September 19, 2021

Mike Edwards - S - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This one is a little bit confusing, if only for the fact that Lamar Jackson ran into the end zone with just a little bit more flare later in the slate of games without consequence.

There's only one @Lj_era8.

Now on NBC pic.twitter.com/NQMgKIwFm2

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 20, 2021

So you can't backpedal into the end zone, but can attempt a front flip? That doesn't seem to make any sense.

Tashaun Gipson
Tashaun Gipson Photo credit Todd Kirkland - Getty Images

Tashaun Gipson - S - Chicago Bears

Though footage is not readily available of this call, Gipson clapped with excitement and in the face of the receiver after a big play and was whistled for it. When asked about the flag, he defended himself by explaining exactly what he did: clapping.

"[The officials] didn't really explain much to me about that," Gipson said (via Kalyn Kahler). "I wasn't really saying much. I just clapped because it was a huge play on third down, pumping up my guys, and that is the type of energy that you are playing with these guys. I don't want to be out there if I can't be happy for my guys when they make big plays.

"That's what this game is about, man. It's just adrenaline. It was costly, man, and that's something I just can't do, put our team in that third down, it's hard to get off the field. I apologized to them and that's uncharacteristic of me, but you know, that rule is a fine line right now. You don't know if you can be happy... but anytime our guys make a play, I'm going to be the first one to congratulate them and be happy."

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