NFL Staying The Course On Silly Taunting Penalties

The NFL has stated taunting penalties will be a point of emphasis this season and has no plans to change the enforcement of the rule.

The Washington Post reports the league has “no immediate plans” to instruct its competition committee to modify the enforcement of the rule, as the enforcement by the officials is “going as planned,” despite the criticism.

The league believes “players will adjust” to how the rule is being officiated as the season progresses, the Washington Post reports.

“For those who aren’t a fan of the new taunting rule, we aren’t either,” the NFLPA wrote Monday on Twitter. “Rules like this are adopted through the competition committee, which includes 11 members: 10 selected by the commissioner NFLPA rep.”

The Post reports that the competition committee made upgraded enforcement of the existing rule against taunting a point of officiating emphasis for this season.

Officials have called 11 taunting penalties in the first two weeks, including eight in Week 2.

Washington Football Team Coach Ron Rivera — who is a member of the competition committee — said at a news conference Tuesday the idea behind the taunting rule is to prevent the bigger things from occurring.

“We’ve had this example where one guy taunts a guy and then the guy comes back for a little payback," he said. "And the next thing you know, you’ve got a big fight on your hands. You’ve got guys coming from left field, hitting each other. And that’s really what, to me, I think the referees are really looking for. They’re just trying to get it quieted down. You can do the celebration. They sent a tape out and explained exactly what’s taunting and what’s not. And I think if you look at the tape and you follow the tape, then it makes sense. I’m all for the celebration.”

For now, it seems like the NFL’s new emphasis on taunting is taking shape, and it’s absurd.

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