The return of football doesn’t only mean the return of incredible touchdowns, excellent quarterback play, and electric atmospheres at opening stadiums. Football’s start to the 2022 season also means opening the door to some of the more “disrespectful” player-on-player, player-on-team, or team-on-team plays of the week.
To be clear, a disrespectful play doesn’t necessarily constitute as a blatant middle finger to an opponent or a team clearly calling out a rival in bold neon lights. It’s so much more than that. Yes, even football can be a subtle game of pettiness.
A disrespectful play can simply be a superstar quarterback playing to the whistle and perhaps adding a little edge on a savage stiff-arm in a clutch moment. It might look like a bruising bell cow running back finally getting a taste of his own medicine. Or it could be an entire team channeling some controlled rage over a former teammate who seemingly can’t stop talking about them in public.
Here’s a look back at the most disrespectful plays from Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season.