Every few years, the NFL comes out with new rules that completely infuriate fans. In the past, the rule everyone hated was the celebration rule which penalized players for their elaborate touchdown celebrations. Eventually, the NFL brought back the celebrations although this year, they are getting even worse with their authoritarian way of doing things.
This season, the league is now calling penalties for what is being described as “taunting.” These taunting calls can be for anything that involves rubbing things into the face of the other team. These types of penalties are extremely childish, as now, players can’t even express their own individuality. This past weekend, the taunting calls were particularly insane as some players were given penalties for throwing up peace signs and simple yelling in a player’s face.
As Sunday’s slate of games progressed forward, many fans realized that the calls were getting more and more ridiculous, which led to a ton of vitriol on social media. In the tweets below, you can see that many of the fans watching at home were livid with what they were witnessing and that ultimately, the calls were taking away from the game.
Taunting and trash-talking are two things that are as old as time, and there is absolutely no reason why they should be removed from a sport like football. At this point, the league is going to have to change this or they might be in for a PR disaster all season long.