NFL on taunting: 'We’re right where we need to be'

According to the NFL, the crackdown on taunting is going exactly the way the league wanted.

The NFL enforced stricter implementation of its taunting rule ahead of the 2021 season, and the league — in large part disagreeing with its fans — believes the penalty flags have been successful so far.

The NFL urged referees to call more taunting penalties starting this season, after the rule, nestled under the umbrella of unsportsmanlike conduct, had rarely been called in seasons past. The NFL rulebook defines taunting as “Using baiting or taunting acts or words that may engender ill will between teams.”

Through the first two weeks of the NFL regular season, officials threw 11 flags for taunting — the same number called over the course of the entire 2020 season for the same infraction. However, there were only three taunting flags thrown in the next three weeks, and the running 2021 tally reached 14 heading into Sunday.

“We’re right where we need to be and we’re now seeing the correction we were looking for,” NFL executive Troy Vincent told The Associated Press. “We saw the spike the first three weeks and now we’re seeing the decline. The coaches and the NFL Competition Committee are pleased. Coaches have told us their players are adjusting, they’re thinking about what they’re going to do, knowing it may cost the team. These are game-changing penalties for a selfish act.”

This week, the NFL kicked off on Thursday Night Football with a prime-time taunting call in the Philadelphia Eagles-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, one that made many fans express frustration. The Eagles came all the way back from a 21-point deficit against the Buccaneers, cutting the Tampa Bay lead to just 28-22, and Philadelphia needed just one stop to get the ball back to its offense. On first down, Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette gained just two yards, but Philadelphia linebacker Genard Avery got up after the play and got close to Fournette’s facemask. The two brushed against each other as Fournette got up, seemingly by accident, but Avery was flagged for taunting upon contact.

Genard Avery was called for "taunting" on this play… 🤨 #FlyEaglesFly

(via @NFLonFOX) pic.twitter.com/eWZKWI7266

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 15, 2021

That 15-yard penalty gave the Buccaneers a fresh set of downs, which was all they needed to run out the clock and end the game. That taunting call changed the course of the game, but the NFL still believes it’s doing what the rule was intended to do: eliminating in-your-face transgressions, regardless of how mild it may be.

Earlier this season, New York Giants owner John Mara, a member of the NFL’s competition committee, explained why the group deemed it necessary to eliminate these incidents from the game.

“That’s something we discuss every year in the Competition Committee,” Mara said of the taunting issue. “We get kind of sick and tired of the talking that does go on from time to time on the field. 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. It’s just a question of whether you can have rules that can be enforced and without taking the fun out of the game too, but nobody wants to see a player taunting another player. I know, I certainly don’t. I think the rest of the members of the Competition Committee feel the same way, too.”