This weekend of NFL football saw serious backlash to the new focus on taunting penalties in the league. We saw a number of jarring instances of players being flagged for getting pumped up about big plays they made.
“There’s virtually nothing we can all agree on on this app except that the NFL’s new taunting rule STINKS,” ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted on Sunday evening. “Please NFL. These taunting penalties are ruining the game. Not a single fan or player wanted this change. It has to stop. Please,” former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst Geoff Herbert said, in all caps.
Those who did want the change: the owners. After the rash of penalties on Sunday, a clip of New York Giants owner John Mara, member of the league’s competition committee, defending the decision over the summer. Jerry Jones isn’t a member of that group, though his son Stephen is. He echoed what Bill Belichick said this week: officials are trying to nip the taunting issue in the bud, and he doesn’t expect it to be a major issue after the first few weeks.
“When you see a heavy dose of it early, they’re trying to stop that,” Jones said this morning. “I think that’s what you’re seeing. Hopefully that’ll get back to a level that’s ordinary, not extraordinary.”
Jerry Jones on taunting being penalized so heavily in the NFL: “When you see a heavy dose of it early (officials are trying to make a point), they’re trying to stop that. I think that’s what you’re seeing. Hopefully that’ll get back to a level that’s ordinary, not extraordinary.”
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 21, 2021
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While Jones certainly didn’t take an anti-taunting penalty stance there, it doesn’t sound like he was thrilled with what transpired this weekend either. That would probably fall under “extraordinary” enforcement.
This is a common issue with league rule changes. NFL officials really drive home things in the first few months, and there are numerous complaints about overenforcement, and eventually things settle down to a more normal level.
Hopefully that is the case with taunting as well, because penalizing players for getting excited about big plays is not something that will help grow the game at all.
The post Jerry Jones Shares His Opinion On NFL’s Taunting Penalties appeared first on The Spun.
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