Lions Slapped With Rare 'Mama Joke' Penalty You Don't See Very Often

The Detroit Lions, no strangers to figuring out ways to lose football games, seemed to invent a new way Sunday against the Browns and it came in the form of a "mama joke" that caught the attention of a game official.

At the end of the third quarter of Sunday's 13-10 disgusting Lions-Browns game, Lions left guard Jonah Jackson was slapped with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty that had a wild explanation from Lions head coach Dan Campbell after the loss.

The reason for the penalty? Jackson made a comment about Jadeveon Clowney's mother.

With the Browns looking dead and trailing just 13-7 late in the third quarter, the Lions faced a 2nd and five from their own 45. D'Andre Swift took a handoff and ran for 13 yards down to the Cleveland 42 and then it happened.

The dreaded 'mama joke' penalty on Jackson.

After the penalty, the Lions were pushed all the way back to their own 43 and faced first and 25 with quarterback Tim Boyle, who was making his first NFL start. Entering Sunday, Boyle had thrown just four passes in the NFL.

The Lions' drive failed and they had to punt and had one first down the rest of the game.

"I don’t know what to tell you," Lions coach Dan Campbell told the media after the game. "It was something that is said. It was something about somebody’s mother, OK? And there was a lot of talking going on out there, but so it was a penalty."

Jackson claimed after the game that he didn't remember the exact mama joke that resulted in the devastating penalty.

“First of all, I should have never even put my team in that situation, but it was the heat of the moment, heat of the game," Jackson told reporters. "We actually chopped it up after, apologized. It was both sides, but definitely should have never been in that situation to begin with."

In a league filled with bad dudes with bad intentions, mama jokes are taking things too far, according to the guys who play the game.

"But a your mama joke will probably get you booked every time," Myles Garrett told reporters.