Last season, the NFL made taunting a point of emphasis when it came to officiating. Though most football fans disagreed with that decision, it’ll remain intact for the 2022 season.
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent announced earlier this month that there’s an agreement among league decision-makers that the 2021 standard for taunting penalties should remain in place.
“We have to stand on sportsmanship,” Vincent said, via ESPN. “That was universally in agreement. … But there are areas we need to clean up.”
Vincent revealed that only five taunting calls made during the 2021 season should not be penalized in the future.
#NFL competition committee met with HC + GM committees this morning. Among topics was taunting. Group looked at all 61 taunting flags in 2021. 56 of them had acts NFL will continue to enforce in 2022 as a sportsmanship emphasis, according to EVP/football operations Troy Vincent.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) March 1, 2022
Once again, NFL players will be told to celebrate with their teammates. If they go out of their way to taunt an opponent, they’ll be subject to a flag.
“The referee can inject, separate them, give them an opportunity [to keep playing]. ‘Celebrate with your teammates’ was a phrase that was pretty clear. Don’t go back toward your opponent,” Vincent added.
Hopefully, taunting penalties don’t ruin the flow of the game next season.
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