A weird thing has been happening in the NFL lately. Players have been celebrating without consequence.
NFL starting to let players have fun again
The decline in taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties is good for everyone
Someone scores a touchdown, they dance, and there’s no flag. It’s eerie, really.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, there’s been a huge drop in the total of “No Fun” penalties since Week 7. Officials called 21 taunting and 50 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the first half of the season. From Week 8 to Week 13, those numbers dropped drastically — only seven taunting and 22 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
It feels weird to credit the NFL for doing something that should never have been an issue to begin with, yet this is slightly satisfying. Though it could be taken a step further.
For instance, maybe don’t throw flags on celebrations like this:
Or this:
And in the Footloose parody that is the NFL, please just let our Kevin Bacon dance:
We don’t ask for much.
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