Tag: Taunting

Four Verts: Welcome to the NFL, Justin Fields and the Ravens are magic

Justin Fields and Lamar Jackson are good and fun, unlike taunting penalties.

Halfway!

The 2021 NFL season has absolutely zoomed by, but we’ve officially reached the halfway point.

This has been an eventful season so far, giving tons of great games and performances to fuel excitement for the back half of the season and the upcoming playoff races in each division.

The Bears probably won’t be a playoff team this year, but they might have finally found that elusive franchise quarterback in Justin Fields. The Ravens know for certain they have their guy in Lamar Jackson and the Panthers most likely don’t have their long term quarterback in Sam Darnold.

Week 10 Four Verts column! Tell a friend.

Fans roast NFL after Darren Waller is hit with ridiculous taunting penalty for spiking the football

Really NFL???

Another NFL game, another bogus taunting penalty.

During Monday Night Football between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders, Darren Waller was given a taunting penalty for spiking the football while celebrating a catch. Facing down a third and five in the second quarter, Waller pulled in a catch for a 21-yard gain for the Raiders. While being pushed out of bounds, Waller spiked the football to the ground on the Chargers side of the field, which drew the referees’ attention.

The kicker here? Waller wasn’t even looking at the Chargers’ defenders who pushed him out of bounds, making this one of the worst taunting calls we’ve seen this year.

As a result of the penalty, the Raiders’ drive stalled after being assessed the 15-yard infraction.

We’ve seen many terrible taunting calls already in the NFL, and we’re only in Week 4! This is already shaping up to be one of the worst rule changes in league history.

As expected, NFL fans were irate at the taunting penalty thrown Waller’s way after the decision came down.

A supercut video of Week 2’s taunting calls is just a terrible look for the NFL

Every call was so bad.

You know a rule has to be terrible if it gets NFL fans to universally agree about something, and the 2021 season’s new taunting rules appear to be just that. It needs to stop before a call directly impacts a game.

As we’ve discussed, the NFL went into the 2021 season with an added emphasis on enforcing taunting penalties. Basically, the Competition Committee — specifically John Mara — came to the conclusion that NFL players talk too much trash. They, in turn, instructed officials to call 15-yard penalties for any action that can be loosely interpreted as showing up an opponent.

It’s been an absolute mess thus far. All you need to do is take a look at some of the taunting penalties from Week 2 to know that this can’t continue.

NFL fines Saints DT Jalen Dalton following taunting penalty vs. Ravens

NFL fines Saints DT Jalen Dalton following taunting penalty vs. Ravens

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New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Jalen Dalton was one of three players to receive a $3,667 fine from the NFL office on Saturday after they were each penalized for taunting in last week’s preseason games. Dalton, 24, is playing on a contract with no guaranteed dollars after recovering from a torn biceps muscle last summer. Now he has to forfeit some of the money he’s been working for, along with one of his opponents in Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris Westry.

Neither player did anything illegal, harmful, or otherwise very notable. But that’s not stopping members of the NFL competition committee like New York Giants owner John Mara from stepping in.

“We get kind of sick and tired of the talking that does go on from time to time on the field,” Mara complained during a recent press conference. “We tried to balance the sportsmanship with allowing the players to have fun and there’s always a fine line there, but none of us like to see that.”

That’s presumably fueled by his own frustrating gameday experience full of opponents taunting the bad teams he’s built (Mara’s most recent coaching hires have gone a combined 29-51, with one year of double-digit wins and four consecutive seasons of double-digit losses). If Mara had done a better job hiring coaches and executives he wouldn’t have had to languish with so many losing teams, nor rivals jeering them on and celebrating Big Blue’s downfall.

Instead he and other incompetent owners are throwing their support behind an effort to take more personality out of the most popular sport in America and make their air-conditioned view from a luxury suite more palatable. And the players actually working, sweating, and emoting down on the field have to take extra care not to raise the ire of anyone influential.

Anyway; hopefully the officials settle down once the regular season kicks off in a few short weeks. Interrupting the pace of play and taking great moments away from players and teams because of chatter or flexing in the heat of the moment is an awful look for the league. Owners have taken these shots at players before to send a message only for them to settle down afterwards (remember the banned group celebrations rule?). Let’s see how it plays out.

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Taunting will not be tolerated in the NFL this season

Here’s a look at the 2021 NFL Rule Changes and Points of Emphasis video ahead of the start of the preseason. Taunting will not be tolerated.

The National Football League released its 2021 Rule Changes & Points of Emphasis video on Tuesday and made it clear that taunting will not be tolerated.

Two taunting violations will lead to an automatic ejection from the game, and the player could also be subject to fines and a suspension.

“The NFL Players Association, coaches and competition committee have all made a strong statement regarding respect among everyone on the field,” competition committee chairman Rich McKay said in the video. “We saw an increase in actions that clearly are not within the spirit and intent of this rule is 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.”

Information on the rest of the rule changes and points of emphasis can be found in the video below.

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NFL’s new emphasis on taunting is bad news for Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill

NFL officials have been directed to ‘strictly enforce’ taunting penalties in 2021. It could spell bad news for #Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill and some of his signature celebrations.

The No Fun League has returned with its annual rules changes and points emphasis for the 2021 season. The latest point of emphasis places a renewed emphasis on taunting and it spells bad news for Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill.

In the NFL’s video on rules changes and points of emphasis, they make it clear that officials will place a stricter emphasis on the league’s taunting rules in 2021.

“The NFLPA, 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 to the respect of 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 action.”

Some of the actions depicted in the video including jawing with opponents and spiking the ball after a big play.

Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill is known for having some celebrations ready to fly after his big plays. His signature peace sign celebration and his backflips could result in a penalty, fine and even a suspension if they’re perceived to be severe enough by the officiating crews and league review. Hill will need to be extra cautious next season as to not cost himself or the team as the result of these new changes.

Hill has already weighed in on the subject shortly after the news was revealed.

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The NFL’s video about its enhanced taunting rules is incredibly lame

The No Fun League is back.

The NFL is back to being the No Fun League.

Four years ago, the NFL relaxed its celebration rules, allowing players to have choreographed touchdown celebrations. It came after years of complaints from players and fans. And while the celebration rules remain relaxed, the NFL is still finding ways to take personality out of the game.

For the 2021 season, officials are being instructed to have added emphasis on enforcing taunting rules. Players can’t talk trash, gesture at or mock an opponent to celebrate a play, and two taunting penalties in a game for an individual player will result in an ejection. The ejection isn’t new, but the emphasis is.

To make matters worse, the NFL chose two of the tamest examples of taunting penalties.

NFL features Browns WR Jarvis Landry as an example in taunting penalty video

Landry’s penalty he earned against the Texans was used by the NFL in an instructional video on taunting infractions

One of the points of emphasis for NFL officials in the 2021 season is to decrease the showmanship of players directed at opponents. Taunting penalties are going to go up thanks to the stronger attention and enforcement of the rules.

In a video the league released to all 32 teams, the NFL specifically used Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry as one of the two examples of a play where a taunting infraction will be penalized. Landry spiked the ball after getting up following a play and also glared at Texans CB (and former Browns teammate) Eric Murray.

This play was indeed flagged at the time, but it’s an example of what the NFL is trying to eliminate.

Landry was the only player in the NFL who was flagged for multiple taunting fouls in the 2020 season, per Nick Pedone.