There's nothing worse than watching your favorite NFL team record a game-changing sack, or pull off a massively important third-down stop, or break loose for a long touchdown... all for it to be overturned by an avoidable taunting penalty. Sure, there's a team that also benefits from that exact scenario, but it's a deflating experience all in all to see great work negated by a little bit of extra celebration tacked on to the end of the play.
Unfortunately, we're going to have to buckle up for a little bit more of that than usual in 2021. This isn't to say that taunting will occur more frequently — in fact, the best-case scenario would be just the opposite — but the enforcement of taunting rules will become stricter. NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero shared the league's annual rule change and points of emphasis video, highlighting the section that focused on taunting and its place (or lack of) in football.
The exact quote from the video is as follows:
Under the points of emphasis, two important areas will be a focus for game officials. The NFL Players Association, coaches and competition committee have all made a strong statement regarding respect among everyone on the field. We saw an increase in actions that are clearly not within the spirit and intent of this rule and not representative of the respect to opponents and others on the field. Game officials have been instructed to strictly enforce the taunting rules, and players and coaches are reminded that two taunting penalties committed by an individual player will result in automatic disqualification. In addition, the taunting player may be fined and/or suspended depending on the severity of the actions.
If you're wondering why the term "No Fun League" is trending on Twitter, well, there you have it.
[ TTs US🇺🇸 14:35 ]
— 50trends U.S. (@50trends_us) August 10, 2021
"No Fun League" has entered the Top Trends => 7⃣ pic.twitter.com/tIh2H4LVH1
Fortunately, the league count wasn't all that high last season, according to NFLpenalties.com, with only eight teams getting slapped with a taunting penalty and only two teams — the Panthers and the Browns — getting whistled for taunting more than once. However, if that number goes up, expect more and more frustrated football fans screaming at their TVs (as if we don't have enough of that already).
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