Let Players Taunt

Every year, the NFL begins the preseason by making the referees emphasize a different rule that zero people complained about the year before. This season they’ve chosen to reinforce their taunting rules because a player teased another player in the Super Bowl and although it affected no one on the field and no one at home, the NFL has isolated that moment and decided that it’s far too damaging to their brand to continue to allow.

Here is Indianapolis Colts undrafted rookie running back, Benny LeMay, steamrolling a majority of the Carolina Panthers defense and then proceeding to celebrate. As he should.

Taunting is a huge emphasis by the referees this season. Benny LeMay with great effort. However, he was flagged for taunting after the pay.

#Panthers 15 @ #Colts 10#NFL pic.twitter.com/II3ejx9NzT

— Allen Lively (@AllenLivelyLOF) August 15, 2021

Anddd that huge gain is negated by a taunting penalty because how dare these players to celebrate their accomplishments after spending all of their time and energy preparing for games.

Forcing adult men in their 30’s to be respectful and exhibit sportsmanship to their opponents in the midst of a game in which THE GOAL is to push, shove and slam them over the course of two and a half hours every Sunday because kids are watching, or some shit, is an interesting decision.

But this is the same league that attempted to avoid paying black retired players suffering from brain determination by claiming that black people are simply born with lower intelligence so they couldn’t prove that their current brain function is the result of slamming helmets over and over and instead was just the downside of being a brown person.

So do not believe anyone who tries to defend the NFL taunting rule by saying it’s for ‘player safety’. We rarely see fights on the field. A wide receiver celebrating a first down isn’t going to suddenly incite a riot because it never has before and why are we pretending as if it will now? Why do I have to write this right now? Let players taunt.

If we explore the history of the rule, we don’t have to go that far back to learn that the taunting rule exists not to shield fans from evil. Nope, asshole head coaches cried about it to the commissioner in 2004.

Tagliabue said that several coaches had called him to ask for harsher penalties for players who taunt or celebrate excessively. Jets Coach Herman Edwards was among those who called Tagliabue to request that some players face a suspension, in addition to fines, for certain acts.

”Many coaches called me when incidents occurred that they felt were way outside the rules and uncalled for and humiliating to their own players and embarrassing to players, including cellphone incidents,” Tagliabue said. ”The discipline will continue to escalate unless it stops.”

Players were celebrating touchdowns and coaches were embarrassed. Nothing better than old people telling young black men to pull their pants up and speak softly.

A 15-yard taunting penalty is going to decide who wins or loses a game this season but it’ll be worth it because kids at home will learn that fun is bad.