When the very stupid news broke that the NFL would be yet again cracking down on taunting, at least one member of the competition committee had a curious defense: The players were asking for it.
Rich McKay, the president of the Falcons and head of the competition committee, said the union and coaches agreed on throwing more taunting flags. McKay doubled down on that explanation after a backlash from players and a ticky-tack taunting call against Colts running back Benny LeMay, who simply flexed after getting a first down.
“So this year, the first issue brought to us by the NFLPA was that there was too much player-on-player taunting activity, and there was too much in your face,” McKay said. “Listen, this is brought to us by the players, the NCAA; it’s been in our rules forever. This rule was unanimously supported by the Competition Committee and the NFLPA. I’m not really worried about this one.”
That’s simply not true, according to Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter. “I can assure you, as an attendee of the competition committee meeting myself, that was not the case,” Tretter wrote Tuesday. “On the contrary, we would support the removal of this point of emphasis immediately.”
There’s no question that a crackdown against “taunting” would be ridiculous and unnecessary. The only question is how much the refs will follow through with it. While the flag against LeMay was unfair, it was one of only three taunting penalties called in the entire preseason.
“The overwhelming majority of the time, players understand the line between that emotion and bad sportsmanship,” Tretter wrote. “This year, don’t blame the players who show too much emotion, and cut the refs a break for doing their jobs. Blame the people who push for rules like this time and time again,” he said.
In addition to McKay, it’s clear that one of those people is Giants owner John Mara, who was shredded by players for his seeming fixation on taunting last month. “We get kind of sick and tired of the taunting that does go on from time to time on the field. ... Nobody wants to see a player taunting another player. I know I certainly don’t.”
In a crisp and efficient taunt, Saints running back Alvin Kamara tweeted that quote out with a corn emoji. No flag on the play, please.
