BroBible
Despite players and fans strongly speaking out against it, the NFL recently announced a plan to get infinitely more lame in 2025 by cracking down on taunting.
Chris Franklin of NJ.com reports that the league has made it a point of emphasis to call more taunting penalties this season after a rise in “inappropriate gestures” a year ago.
“From the standpoint of our taunting, it was up, I believe, about 55% last year,” NFL officiating rules analyst Walt Anderson said in a media briefing. “Unsportsmanlike gestures, whether they were simulating or brandishing a gun or inappropriate gestures like a throat slash or unfortunate sexual gestures that were made, those were up almost 133%, so that is a point of emphasis.”
Franklin reports that the league threw 42 flags for unsportsmanlike conduct last season, up from just 25 a year prior. According to Anderson, the NFL wants players to continue to celebrate. But it prefers they do so in a more refined manner.
“There are plenty of ways for players to be able to celebrate, and they come up with some very unique and often entertaining ways,” Anderson said. “We want them to focus on those and not the inappropriate areas.”
Not only do fans have no issue with taunting, but it appears players don’t, either. That’s not only evident by the actual increase in taunting, but also by their words.
In fact, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said just last season that he is explicitly pro-taunting.
“We’re all grown adults that work really hard at what we do. And sometimes we’d like to show it,” Burrow said during a live version of the “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce. “I’m not gonna get my feelings hurt if somebody sacks me and taunts me like you made a play.”
Now, is there a line that players do sometimes cross? Of course. But for the most part, if the other team doesn’t get upset, or if the gesture isn’t obscenely vulgar, refs could probably stand to keep their flags in their pockets.
But it appears the NFL has decided otherwise. And they wonder why people call it the “No Fun League.”
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